4 


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PHILADELPHIA 


Class.C^.ZZ        %ook...Ll..&.&£  Accession 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/historyofsilkcotOOgilr_0 


THE 


H  I  S  T  0  E  tmSTiTOTEj 


SILK,  COTTON,  LINEN,  WOOL 

AND  OTHER  FIBROUS  SUBSTANCES  ; 


INCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS  ON 


SPINNING,  DYEING  AND  WEAVING. 

ALSO  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS,  THEIR  SOCIAL  STATE 
AND  ATTAINMENTS  IN  THR  DOMESTIC  ARTS. 

WITH  APPENDICES 

ON  PLINY's  NATURAL  HISTORY  ;  ON  THE  ORIGIN  AND  MANUFACTURE 
OF  LINEN  AND  COTTON  PAPER  ;  ON  FELTING,  NETTING,  &C. 

DEDUCED  FROM 

COPIOUS  AND  AUTHENTIC  SOURCES. 
ILLUSTRATED  BY  STEEL  ENGRAVINGS. 


NEW  YORK: 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  82  CLIFF  STREET. 


1845. 


6  77 


GiS 


EIntjecied,"  jaccord'Q^  to*-  Act  *o{ «Co*igrf«»,  inf  the  year  1845, 

;  !   Ibi^'Har  i  e  t      f&&y  J*  *  JM » 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 
«  •  'for  the  Southern  Dietjidt  of  New  York. 


I 


TO  THE 

PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

THIS  VOLUME 
IS  RESPECTFULLY 
INSCRIBED. 


PREFACE. 


History,  until  a  recent  period,  was  mainly  a  record  of  gi- 
gantic crimes  and  their  consequent  miseries.  The  dazzling 
glow  of  its  narrations  lighted  never  the  path  of  the  peaceful 
Husbandman,  as  his  noiseless,  incessant  exertions  transformed 
the  howling  wilderness  into  a  blooming  and  fruitful  garden,  but 
gleamed  and  danced  on  the  armor  of  the  Warrior  as  he  rode 
forth  to  devastate  and  destroy.  One  year  of  his  labors  sufficed 
to  undo  what  the  former  had  patiently  achieved  through  cen- 
turies ;  and  the  campaign  was  duly  chronicled  while  the  labors 
it  blighted  were  left  to  oblivion.  The  written  annals  of  a  na- 
tion trace  vividly  the  course  of  its  corruption  and  downfall,  but 
are  silent  or  meagre  with  regard  to  the  ultimate  causes  of  its 
growth  and  eminence.  The  long  periods  of  peace  and  prosper- 
ity in  which  the  Useful  Arts  were  elaborated  or  perfected  are 
passed  over  with  the  bare  remark  that  they  afford  little  of  in- 
terest to  the  reader,  when  in  fact  their  true  history,  could  it  now 
be  written,  would  prove  of  the  deepest  and  most  substantial 
value.  The  world  might  well  afford  to  lose  all  record  of  a  hun- 
dred ancient  battles  or  sieges  if  it  could  thereby  regain  the 
knowledge  of  one  lost  art,  and  even  the  Pyramids  bequeathed 
to  us  by  Egypt  in  her  glory  would  be  well  exchanged  for  a  few 
of  her  humble  workshops  and  manufactories,  as  they  stood  in 
the  days  of  the  Pharaohs.  Of  the  true  history  of  mankind 
only  a  few  chapters  have  yet  been  written,  and  now,  when  the 
deficiencies  of  that  we  have  are  beginning  to  be  realized,  we  find 
that  the  materials  for  supplying  them  have  in  good  part  perish- 
ed in  the  lapse  of  time,  or  been  trampled  recklessly  beneath  the 
hoof  of  the  war-horse. 

In  the  following  pages,  an  effort  has  been  made  to  restore  a 
portion  of  this  history,  so  far  as  the  meagre  and  careless  traces 


Vi"  PREFACE. 

scattered  through  the  Literature  of  Antiquity  will  allow. — Of 
the  many  beneficent  achievements  of  inventive  genius,  those 
which  more  immediately  minister  to  the  personal  convenience 
and  comfort  of  mankind  seem  to  assert  a  natural  pre-eminence. 
Among  the  first  under  this  head  may  be  classed  the  invention 
of  Weaving,  with  its  collateral  branches  of  Spinning,  Netting, 
Sewing,  Pelting,  and  Dyeing.  An  account  of  the  origin  and 
progress  of  this  family  of  domestic  arts  can  hardly  fail  to  inter- 
est the  intelligent  reader,  while  it  would  seem  to  have  a  special 
claim  on  the  attention  of  those  engaged  in  the  prosecution  or 
improvement  of  these  arts.  This  work  is  intended  to  subserve 
the  ends  here  indicated.  In  the  present  age,  when  the  re- 
sources of  Science  and  of  Intellect  have  so  largely  pressed  into 
the  service  of  Mechanical  Invention,  especially  with  reference  to 
the  production  of  fabrics  from  fibrous  substances,  it  is  somewhat 
remarkable  that  no  methodical  treatise  on  this  topic  has  been 
offered  to  the  public,  and  that  the  topic  itself  seems  to  have  al- 
most eluded  the  investigations  of  the  learned.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  Mr.  Yates's  erudite  production,  u  Textrinum  Anti- 
quorum"  we  possess  no  competent  work  on  the  subject ;  and 
valuable  as  is  this  production  for  its  authority  and  profound  re- 
search, it  is  yet,  for  various  reasons,  of  comparative  inutility  to 
the  general  reader. 

That  a  topic  of  such  interest  deserved  elucidation  will  not  be 
denied  when  it  is  remembered  that,  apart  from  the  question  of 
the  direct  influence  these  important  arts  have  ever  exerted  upon 
the  civilization  and  social  condition  of  communities,  in  various 
ages  of  the  world,  there  are  other  and  scarcely  inferior  consider- 
ations to  the  student,  involved  in  their  bearing  upon  the  true 
understanding  of  history,  sacred  and  profane.  To  supply, 
therefore,  an  important  desideratum  in  classical  archaeology,  by 
thus  seeking  the  better  to  illustrate  the  true  social  state  of  the 
ancients,  thereby  affording  a  commentary  on  their  commerce 
and  progress  in  domestic  arts,  is  one  of  the  leading  objects  con- 
templated by  the  present  work.  In  addition  to  this,  our  better 
acquaintance  with  the  actual  condition  of  these  arts  in  early 
times  will  tend,  in  many  instances,  to  confirm  the  historic  ac- 
curacy and  elucidate  the  idiom  of  many  portions  of  Holy  Writ.. 


PREFACE.  / 

How  many  of  the  grandest  discoveries  in  the  scientific  ^o^ta 
owe  their  existence  to  accident !  and  how  many  more  of  the 
boasted  creations  of  human  skill  have  proved  to  be  but  restora- 
tions of  lost  or  forgotten  arts  !  How  much  also  is  still  being 
revealed  to  us  by  the  monumental  records  of  the  old  world, 
whose  occult  glyphs,  till  recently,  defied  the  most  persevering 
efforts  of  the  learned  for  their  solution  ! 

To  be  told  that  the  Egyptians,  four  thousand  years  ago, 
were  cunning  artificers  in  many  of  the  pursuits  which  consti- 
tute lucrative  branches  of  our  modern  industry,  might  surprise 
some  readers  :  yet  we  learn  from  undoubted  authorities  that 
such  they  were.  They  also  were  acquainted  with  the  fabrica- 
tion of  crapes,  transparent  tissues,  cotton,  silk,  and  paper,  as 
well  as  the  art  of  preparing  colors  which  still  continue  to  defy 
the  corrosions  of  defacing  time. 

If  the  spider  may  be  regarded  as  the  earliest  practical 
weaver  upon  record — the  generic  name  Textorice,  supplying 
the  root  from  which  is  clearly  derived  the  English  terms,  texture 
and  textile,  as  applied  to  woven  fabrics,  of  whatever  materials 
they  may  be  composed — the  wasp  may  claim  the  honor  of 
having  been  the  first  paper-manufacturer,  for  he  presents  us 
with  a  most  undoubted  specimen  of  clear  white  pasteboard,  of 
so  smooth  a  surface  as  to  admit  of  being  written  upon  with 
ease  and  legibility.  Would  the  superlative  wisdom  of  man  but 
deign,  with  microscopic  gaze,  to  study  the  ingenious  move- 
ments of  the  insect  tribe  more  minutely,  it  would  not  be  easy 
to  estimate  how  much  might  thereby  be  achieved  for  human 
science,  philosophy,  and  even  morals  ! 

For  those  who  love  to  add  to  their  fund  of  general  knowledge, 
especially  in  the  department  of  natural  history,  the  author 
trusts  that  much  valuable  and  interesting  information  will  be 
found  comprised  in  those  pages  of  this  work  which  delineate 
the  habits  of  the  Silk- Worm,  the  Sheep,  the  Goat,  the  Camel, 
the  Beaver,  &c. ;  while  another  department,  being  devoted  to 
the  history  of  the  Pastoral  Life  of  the  Ancients,  will  naturally 
enlist  the  sympathies  of  such  as  take  a  deeper  interest  in  the 
records  of  ages  and  nations  long  since  passed  away.  From  a 
mass  of  heterogeneous,  though  highly  valuable  materials,  it  has 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 


been  the  design  of  the  author  to  select,  arrange,  and  conserve 
all  that  was  apposite  to  his  subject  and  of  intrinsic  value. 
Thus  has  he  endeavored  to  render  the  piles  of  antiquity,  to 
adopt  the  words  of  a  recent  writer,  well  compacted — a  process 
which  has  been  begun  in  our  times,  and  with  such  eminent  suc- 
cess that  even  the  men  of  the  present  age  may  live  to  see  many 
of  the  thousand  and  one  folios  of  the  ancients  handed  over 
without  a  sigh  to  the  trunk-maker. 

The  ample  domains  of  Learning  are  fast  being  submitted  to 
fresh  irrigation  and  renewed  culture, — the  exclusiveness  of  the 
cloister  has  given  place  to  an  unrestricted  distribution  of  the  in- 
tellectual wealth  of  all  times.  What  civilization  has  accom- 
plished in  the  physical  is  also  being  achieved  in  the  mental 
world.  The  sterile  and  inaccessible  wilderness  is  transformed 
into  the  well-tilled  garden,  abounding  in  luxurious  fruits  and 
fragrant  flowers.  It  is  the  golden  age  of  knowledge — its  Para- 
dise Regained.  The  ponderous  works  of  the  olden  time  have 
been  displaced  by  the  condensing  process  of  modern  litera- 
ture ;  yielding  us  their  spirit  and  essence,  without  the  heavy, 
obscuring  folds  of  their  former  verbal  drapery.  We  want 
real  and  substantial  knowledge  ;  but  we  are  a  labor-saving  and 
a  time-economizing  people, — it  must  therefore  be  obtained  by 
the  most  compendious  processes.  Except  those  with  whom 
learning  is  the  business  of  life,  we  are  too  generally  ignorant 
of  the  mighty  mysteries  which  Nature  has  heaped  around  our 
path  ;  ignorant,  too,  of  many  of  the  discoveries  of  science  and 
philosophy,  in  ancient  as  well  as  modern  times.  To  meet  the 
exigencies  of  our  day,  a  judgment  in  the  selection  and  con- 
densation of  works  designed  for  popular  use  is  demanded — a  fa- 
cility like  that  of  the  alchymist,  extracting  from  the  crude  ores 
of  antiquity  the  fine  gold  of  true  knowledge. 

The  plan  of  this  work  naturally  divides  itself  into  four  de- 
partments. The  first  division  is  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
Silk,  its  early  history  and  cultivation  in  China  and  various 
other  parts  of  the  world ;  illustrated  by  copious  citations  from 
ancient  writers :  From  among  whom  to  instance  Homer,  we 
learn  that  embroidery  and  tapestry  were  prominent  arts  with 
the  Thebans,  that  poet  deriving  many  of  his  pictures  of  domestic 


PREFACE. 


ix 


life  from  the  paintings  which  have  been  found  to  ornament  their 
palaces.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  some  of  the  proudest  attain- 
ments of  art  in  our  own  day  date  their  origin  from  a  period  co- 
eval at  least  with  the  Iliad.  Again  we  find  that  the  use  of  the 
distaff  and  spindle,  referred  to  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  was  al- 
most as  well  understood  in  Egypt  as  it  now  is  in  India  ;  while 
the  factory  system,  so  far  from  being  a  modern  invention,  was 
in  full  operation,  and  conducted  under  patrician  influence,  some 
three  thousand  years  ago.  The  Arabians  also,  even  so  far  back 
as  five  centuries  subsequent  to  the  deluge,  were,  it  is  stated  on 
credible  authority,  skilled  in  fabricating  silken  textures  ;  while, 
at  a  period  scarcely  less  remote,  we  possess  irrefragable  testi- 
mony in  favor  of  their  knowledge  of  paper  made  from  cotton 
rags.  The  inhabitants  of  Phoenicia  and  Tyre  were,  it  appears, 
the  first  acquainted  with  the  process  of  dyeing:  the  Tyrian 
purple,  so  often  noticed  by  writers,  being  of  so  gorgeous  a  hue 
as  to  baffle  description.  The  Persians  were  also  prodigal  in 
their  indulgence  in  vestments  of  gold,  embroidery  and  silk :  the 
memorable  army  of  Darius  affording  an  instance  of  sumptuous 
magnificence  in  this  respect.  An  example  might  also  be  given 
of  the  extravagance  of  the  Romans  in  the  third  century,  in  the 
fact  of  a  pound  of  silk  being  estimated  literally  by  its  weight 
in  gold.  The  nuptial  robes  of  Maria,  wife  of  Honorius,  which 
were  discovered  in  her  coffin  at  Rome  in  1544,  on  being  burnt, 
yielded  36  pounds  of  pure  gold  !  In  the  work  here  presented, 
much  interesting  as  well  as  valuable  information  is  given  under 
this  section,  respecting  the  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  Silk 
in  China,  Greece  and  other  countries. 

The  second  division  of  the  work,  comprising  the  history  of  the 
Sheep,  Goat,  Camel,  and  Beaver,  it  is  hoped  will  also  be 
found  curious  and  valuable.  The  ancient  history  of  the  Cot- 
ion  manufacture  follows — a  topic  that  has  enlisted  the  pens  of 
many  writers,  though  their  essays,  with  two  or  three  exceptions, 
merit  little  notice.  The  subsequent  pages  embody  many  new 
and  important  facts,  connected  with  its  early  history  and  prog- 
ress, derived  from  sources  inaccessible  to  the  general  reader. 
The  fourth  and  last  division,  embracing  the  history  of  the  Linen 
manufacture,  includes  notices  of  Hemp,  Flax,  Asbestos,  &c. 

B 


X 


PREFACE. 


This  department  again  affords  a  fruitful  theme  for  the  curious, 
and  one  that  will  be  deemed,  perhaps,  not  the  least  attractive 
of  the  volume.  Completing  the  design  of  the  work,  will  be 
found  the  Appendices,  comprising  rare  and  valuable  extracts, 
derived  from  unquestionable  authorities. 

Of  the  Ten  Illustrations  herewith  presented,  five  are  en- 
tirely original.  It  is  hoped  that  these,  at  least,  will  be  deemed 
worthy  the  attention  of  the  scholar  as  well  as  of  the  general 
reader,  and  that  their  value  will  not  be  limited  by  their  utility 
as  elucidations  of  the  text.  Among  these,  especial  notice  is  re- 
quested to  the  engraving  of  the  Chinese  Loom,  a  reduced  fac- 
simile, copied  by  permission  from  a  magnificent  Chinese  produc- 
tion, recently  obtained  from  the  Celestial  Empire,  and  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  in 
this  city.  Another,  equally  worthy  of  notice,  represents  an 
Egyptian  weaving  factory,  with  the  processes  of  Spinning  and 
Winding ;  also  a  reduced  fac-simile,  copied  from  Champolliorts 
great  work  on  Egypt.  The  Spider,  magnified  with  his  web, 
and  the  Indian  Loom,  it  is  presumed,  will  not  fail  to  attract  at- 
tention. 

Throughout  the  entire  work,  the  most  diligent  care  has  been 
used  in  the  collation  of  the  numerous  authorities  cited,  as  well 
as  a  rigid  regard  paid  to  their  veracity.  As  a  work  so  elaborate 
in  its  character  would  necessarily  have  to  depend,  to  a  consider- 
able extent,  for  its  facts  and  illustrations,  upon  the  labors  of 
previous  writers,  the  author  deems  no  apology  necessary  in  thus 
publicly  and  gratefully  avowing  his  indebtedness  to  the  several 
authors  cited  in  order  at  the  foot  of  his  pages ;  but  he  would 
especially  mention  the  eminent  name  of  Mr.  Yates,  to  the  fruits 
of  whose  labors  the  present  production  owes  much  of  its  novel- 
ty, attractiveness,  and  intrinsic  value. 

New  York,  Oct  1st,  1845. 


CONTENTS, 


PART  FIRST. 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SPINNING,  DYEING,  AND  WEAVING. 

Whether  Silk  is  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament — Earliest  Clothing — Coats  of 
Skin,  Tunic,  Simla — Progress  of  Invention — Chinese  chronology  relative  to  the 
Culture  of  Silk — Exaggerated  statements — Opinions  of  Mailla,  Le  Sage,  M. 
Lavoisne,  Rev.  J.  Robinson,  Dr.  A.  Clarke,  Rev.  W.  Hales,  D.D.,  Mairan, 
Bailly,  Guignes,  and  Sir  William  Jones — Noah  supposed  to  be  the  first  empe- 
ror of  China — Extracts  from  Chinese  publications — Silk  Manufactures  of  the 
Island  of  Cos— Described  by  Aristotle — Testimony  of  Varro — Spinning  and 
Weaving  in  Egypt — Great  ingenuity  of  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  in  the  production 
of  Figured  Textures  for  the  Jewish  Tabernacle — Skill  of  the  Sidonian  women 
in  the  Manufacture  of  Ornamental  Textures — Testimony  of  Homer — Great 
antiquity  of  the  Distaff  and  Spindle — The  prophet  Ezekiel's  account  of  the 
Broidered  Stuffs,  etc.  of  the  Egyptians — Beautiful  eulogy  on  an  industrious 
woman — Helen  the  Spartan,  her  superior  skill  in  the  art  of  Embroidery — Golden 
Distaff  presented  her  by  the  Egyptian  queen  Alcandra — Spinning  a  domestic 
occupation  in  Miletus — Theocritus's  complimentary  verses  to  Theuginis  on  her 
industry  and  virtue — Taste  of  the  Roman  and  Grecian  ladies  in  the  decoration 
of  their  Spinning  Implements — Ovid's  testimony  to  the  skill  of  Arachne  in 
Spinning  and  Weaving — Method  of  Spinning  with  the  Distaff — Described  by 
Homer  and  Catullus — Use  of  Silk  in  Arabia  500  years  after  the  flood — For- 
ster's  testimony  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  SILK  MANUFACTURE  CONTINUED  TO  THE  4TH  CENTURY. 

SPINNING,  DYEING,  AND  WEAVING. — HIGH  DEGREE  OF  EXCELLENCE  ATTAINED 
IN  THESE  ARTS. 

Testimony  of  the  Latin  poets  of  the  Augustan  age — Tibullus — Propertius — Virgil 
— Horace — Ovid — Dyonisius  Perigetes — Strabo.    Mention  of  silk  by  authors  in 


Xii  CONTENTS. 

the  first  century — Seneca  the  Philosopher — Seneca  the  Tragedian — Lucan — 
Pliny — Josephus — Saint  John — Silius  Italicus — Statius — Plutarch — Juvenal — 
Martial — Pausanias — Galen — Clemens  Alexandrinus — Caution  to  Christian 
converts  against  the  use  of  silk  in  dress.  Mention  of  silk  by  authors  in  the 
second  century — Tertullian — Apuleius — Ulpian — Julius  Pollux — Justin.  Men- 
tion of  silk  by  authors  in  the  third  century — iElius  Lampidius — Vopiscus — 
Trebellius  Pollio — Cyprian — Solinus — Ammianus — Marcellinus — Use  of  silk  by 
the  Roman  emperors — Extraordinary  beauty  of  the  textures — Use  of  water  to 
detach  silk  from  the  trees — Invectives  of  these  authors  against  extravagance  in 
dress — The  Seres  described  as  a  happy  people — Their  mode  of  traffic,  etc. — 
(Macpherson's  opinion  of  the  Chinese.) — City  of  Dioscurias,  its  vast  commerce 
in  former  times. — (Colonel  Syke's  account  of  the  Kolissura  silk-worm — Dr. 
Roxburgh's  description  of  the  Tusseh  silk-worm.)        ....  22 

CHAPTER  III. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  SILK  MANUFACTURE  FROM  THE  THIRD  TO  THE  SIXTH 

CENTURY. 

SPINNING,  DYEING,  AND  WEAVING.  HIGH  DEGREE  OF  EXCELLENCE  ATTAINED 

IN  THESE  ARTS. 

Fourth  Century — Curious  account  of  silk  found  in  the  Edict  of  Diocletian — Ex- 
travagance of  the  Consul  Furius  Placidus — Transparent  silk  shifts — Ausonius 
describes  silk  as  the  produce  of  trees — Quintus  Aur  Symmachus,  and  Claudian's 
testimony  of  silk  and  golden  textures — Their  extraordinary  beauty — Pisander's 
description — Periplus  Maris  Erythrsei — Dido  of  Sidon.  Mention  of  silk  in  the 
laws  of  Manu — Rufus  Festus  Avinus — Silk  shawls — Marciannus  Capella — In- 
scription by  M.  N.  Proculus,  silk  manufacturer — Extraordinary  spiders'  webs — 
Bombyces  compared  to  spiders — Wild  silk-worms  of  Tsouen — Kien  and  Tiao- 
Kien — M.  Bertin's  account — Further  remarks  on  wild  silk-worms.  Christian 
authors  of  the  fourth  century — Arnobius — Gregorius  Nazienzenus — Basil — Il- 
lustration of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection — Ambrose — Georgius  Pisida — 
Macarius —  Jerome  —  Chrysostom  —  Heliodorus  —  Salmasius  —  Extraordinary 
beauty  of  the  silk  and  golden  textures  described  by  these  authors — Their  invec- 
tives against  Christians  wearing  silk.  Mention  of  silk  by  Christian  authors  in 
the  fifth  century — Pridentius — Palladius — Theodosian  Code — Appolinaris  Si- 
donius — Alcimus  Avitus.  Sixth  century — Boethius.  (Manufactures  of  Tyro 
and  Sidon — Purple — Its  great  durability — Incredible  value  of  purple  stuffs 
found  in  the  treasury  of  the  King  of  Persia)  41 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  SILK  MANUFACTURE  CONTINUED  FROM  THE  INTRO- 
DUCTION OF  SILK- WORMS  INTO  EUROPE,  A.D.  530,  TO  THE  FOURTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

A.  D.  530. — Introduction  of  silk-worms  into  Europe — Mode  by  which  it  was 
effected — The  Serinda  of  Procopius  the  same  with  the  modern  Khotan — The 


CONTENTS. 


xiii 


silk-worm  never  bred  in  Sir -hind — Silk  shawls  of  Tyre  and  Berytus — Tyran- 
nical conduct  of  Justinian — Ruin  of  the  silk  manufactures — Oppressive  conduct 
of  Peter  Barsames — Menander  Protector — Surprise  of  Maniak  the  Sogdian  am- 
bassador— Conduct  of  Chosroes,  king  of  Persia — Union  of  the  Chinese  and  Per- 
sians against  the  Turks — The  Turks  in  self-defence  seek  an  alliance  with  the 
Romans — Mortification  of  the  Turkish  ambassador — Reception  of  the  Byzan- 
tine ambassador  by  Disabul,  king  of  the  Sogdiani — Display  of  silk  textures — 
Paul  the  Silentiary's  account  of  silk — Isidorus  Hispalensis.  Mention  of  silk  by 
authors  in  the  seventh  century — Dorotheus,  Archimandrite  of  Palestine — In- 
troduction of  silk-worms  into  Chubdan,  or  Khotan — Theophylactus  Simocatta 
— Silk  manufactures  of  Turfan — Silk  known  in  England  in  this  century — 
First  worn  by  Ethelbert,  king  of  Kent — Use  of  by  the  French  kings — Aldhel- 
mus's  beautiful  description  of  the  silk-worm — Simile  between  weaving  and  vir- 
tue. Silk  in  the  eighth  century — Bede.  In  the  tenth  century — Use  of  silk  by 
the  English,  Welsh,  and  Scotch  kings.  Twelfth  century — Theodorus  Prodro- 
mus — Figured  shawls  of  the  Seres — Ingulphus  describes  vestments  of  silk  in- 
terwoven with  eagles  and  flowers  of  gold — Great  value  of  silk  about  this  time — 
Silk  manufactures  of  Sicily — Its  introduction  into  Spain.  Fourteenth  century 
— Nicholas  Tegrini — Extension  of  the  Silk  manufacture  through  Europe,  illus- 
trated by  etymology — Extraordinary  beauty  of  silk  and  golden  textures  used  in 
the  decoration  of  churches  in  the  middle  ages — Silk  rarely  mentioned  in  the 
ninth,  eleventh,  or  thirteenth  centuries  66 

CHAPTER  V. 

SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 
HIGH  DEGREE  OF  EXCELLENCE  ATTAINED  IN  THIS  MANUFACTURE. 

Manufacture  of  golden  textures  in  the  time  of  Moses — Homer — Golden  tunics  of 
the  Lydians — Their  use  by  the  Indians  and  Arabians — Extraordinary  display 
of  scarlet  robes,  purple,  striped  with  silver,  golden  textures,  &c,  by  Darius, 
king  of  Persia — Purple  and  scarlet  cloths  interwoven  with  gold — Tunics  and 
shawls  variegated  with  gold — Purple  garments  with  borders  of  gold — Golden 
chlamys — Attalus,  king  of  Pergamus,  not  the  inventor  of  gold  thread — Bostick 
— Golden  robe  worn  by  Agrippina — Caligula  and  Heliogabalus — Sheets  inter- 
woven with  gold  used  at  the  obsequies  of  Nero — Babylonian  shawls  intermixed 
with  gold — Silk  shawls  interwoven  with  gold — Figured  cloths  of  gold  and  Ty- 
rean  purple — Use  of  gold  in  the  manufacture  of  shawls  by  the  Greeks — 
4,000,000  sesterces  (about  $150,000)  paid  by  the  Emperor  Nero  for  a  Baby- 
lonish coverlet — Portrait  of  Constantius  II.— Magnificence  of  Babylonian  car- 
pets, mantles,  &c. — Median  sindones   84 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SILVER  TEXTURES,  ETC.,  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 
EXTREME  BEAUTY  OF  THESE  MANUFACTURES. 

Magnificent  dress  worn  by  Herod  Agrippa,  mentioned  in  Acts  xii.  21 — Josephus's 
account  of  this  dress,  and  dreadful  death  of  Herod — Discovery  of  ancient  Piece- 


xiv 


CONTENTS. 


goods — Beautiful  manuscript  of  Theodolphus,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  who  lived  in 
the  ninth  century — Extraordinary  beauty  of  Indian,  Chinese,  Egyptian,  and 
other  manufactured  goods  preserved  in  this  manuscript — Egyptian  arts — Wise 
regulations  of  the  Egyptians  in  relation  to  the  arts — Late  discoveries  in  Egypt 
by  the  Prussian  hierologist,  Dr.  Lepsius — Cloth  of  glass       ...  93 

CHAPTER  VII. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK- WORM,  ETC. 

Preliminary  observations — The  silk-worm — Various  changes  of  the  silk-worm 
— Its  superiority  above  other  worms — Beautiful  verses  on  the  May-fly,  illustra- 
tive of  the  shortness  of  human  life — Transformations  of  the  silk-worm — Its 
small  desire  of  locomotion — First  sickness  of  the  worm — Manner  of  casting  its 
Exuviae — Sometimes  cannot  be  fully  accomplished — Consequent  death  of  the 
insect — Second,  third,  and  fourth  sickness  of  the  worm — Its  disgust  for  food — 
Material  of  which  silk  is  formed — Mode  of  its  secretion — Manner  of  unwinding 
the  filaments — Floss-silk — Cocoon — Its  imperviousness  to  moisture — Effect  of 
the  filaments  breaking  during  the  formation  of  the  cocoon — Mr.  Robinet's  curi- 
ous calculation  on  the  movements  made  by  a  silk-worm  in  the  formation  of  a 
cocoon — Cowper's  beautiful  lines  on  the  silk-worm — Periods  in  which  its  vari- 
ous progressions  are  effected  in  different  climates — Effects  of  sudden  transitions 
from  heat  to  cold — The  worm's  appetite  sharpened  by  increased  temperature — 
Shortens  its  existence — Various  experiments  in  artificial  heating — Modes  of  ar- 
tificial heating — Singular  estimate  of  Count  Dandolo — Astonishing  increase  of 
the  worm — Its  brief  existence  in  the  moth  state — Formation  of  silk — The  silken 
filament  formed  in  the  worm  before  its  expulsion — Erroneous  opinions  enter- 
tained by  writers  on  this  subject — The  silk-worm's  Will       ...  98 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  CHINESE  MODE  OF  REARING  SILK- 
WORMS, ETC. 

Great  antiquity  of  the  silk-manufacture  in  China — Time  and  mode  of  pruning  the 
Mulberry-tree — Not  allowed  to  exceed  a  certain  height — Mode  of  planting — 
Situation  of  rearing-rooms,  and  their  construction — Effect  of  noise  on  the  silk- 
worm— Precautions  observed  in  preserving  cleanliness — Isan-mon,  mother  of 
the  worms — Manner  of  feeding — Space  allotted  to  the  worms — Destruction  of 
the  Chrysalides — Great  skill  of  the  Chinese  in  weaving — American  writers  on  the 
Mulberry-tree — Silk-worms  sometimes  reared  on  trees — (M.  Marteloy's  ex- 
periments in  1764,  in  rearing  silk-worms  on  trees  in  France) — Produce  inferior 
to  that  of  worms  reared  in  houses — Mode  of  delaying  the  hatching  of  the  eggs 
— Method  of  hatching — Necessity  for  preventing  damp — Number  of  meals — 
Mode  of  stimulating  the  appetite  of  the  worms — Effect  of  this  upon  the  quan- 
tity of  silk  produced — Darkness  injurious  to  the  silk-worm — Its  effect  on  the 
Mulberry -leaves — Mode  of  preparing  the  cocoons  for  the  reeling  process — Wild 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


silk-worms  of  India — Mode  of  hatching,  &c. — (Observations  on  the  cultivation 
of  silk  by  Dr.  Stebbins — Dr.  Bowring's  admirable  illustration  of  the  mutual  de- 
pendence of  the  arts  upon  each  other.)  .       .       .       .  119 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  SPIDER. 
ATTEMPTS  TO  PROCURE  SILKEN  FILAMENTS  FROM  SPIDERS. 

Structures  of  spiders — Spiders  not  properly  insects,  and  why — Apparatus  for  spin- 
ning— Extraordinary  number  of  spinnerules — Great  number  of  filaments  com- 
posing one  thread — Reaumur  and  Leeuwenhoeck's  laughable  estimates — At- 
tachment of  the  thread  against  a  wall  or  stick — Shooting  of  the  lines  of  spiders 
— 1.  Opinions  of  Redi,  Swammerdam,  and  Kirby — 2.  Lister,  Kirby,  and  White 
— 3.  La  Pluche  and  Bingley — 4.  D'Isjonval,  Murray,  and  Bowman — 5.  Ex- 
periments of  Mr.  Blackwall — His  account  of  the  ascent  of  gossamer — 6.  Ex- 
periments by  Rennie — Thread  supposed  to  go  off  double — Subsequent  experi- 
ments— Nests,  Webs,  and  Nets  of  Spiders — Elastic  satin  nest  of  a  spider — Eve- 
lyn's account  of  hunting  spiders — Labyrinthic  spider's  nest — Erroneous  account 
of  the  House  Spider — Geometric  Spiders — attempts  to  procure  silken  filaments 
from  Spiders'  bags — Experiments  of  M.  Bon — Silken  material — Manner  of  its 
preparations — M.  Bon's  enthusiasm — His  spider  establishment — Spider-silk  not 
poisonous — Its  usefulness  in  healing  wounds — Investigation  of  M.  Bon's  estab- 
lishment by  M.  Reaumur — His  objections — Swift's  satire  against  speculators 
and  projectors — Ewbank's  interesting  observations  on  the  ingenuity  of  spiders — 
Mason-spiders — Ingenious  door  with  a  hinge — Nest  from  the  West  Indies  with 
spring  hinge — Raft-building  Spider — Diving  Water-Spider — Rev.  Mr.  Kirby's 
beautiful  description  of  it — Observations  of  M.  Clerck — Cleanliness  of  Spiders — 
Structure  of  their  claws — Fanciful  account  of  them  patting  their  webs — Pro- 
ceedings of  a  spider  in  a  steamboat — Addison — His  suggestions  on  the  compila- 
tion of  a  "  History  of  Insects"   .  138 

CHAPTER  X. 

FIBRES  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINNA. 

The  Pinna — Description  of — Delicacy  of  its  threads — Reaumur's  observations — 
Mode  of  forming  the  filament  or  thread — Power  of  continually  producing  new 
threads — Experiments  to  ascertain  this  fact — The  Pinna  and  its  Cancer 
Friend — Nature  of  their  alliance — Beautiful  phenomenon — Aristotle  and  Pliny's 
account — The  Greek  poet  Oppianus's  lines  on  the  Pinna,  and  its  Cancer  friend 
— Manner  of  procuring  the  Pinna — Poli's  description — Specimens  of  the  Pinna 
in  the  British  Museum — Pearls  found  in  the  Pinna — Pliny  and  Athenaeus's  ac- 
count— Manner  of  preparing  the  fibres  of  the  Pinna  for  weaving — Scarceness 
of  this  material — No  proof  that  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  the  art 
of  knitting — Tertullian  the  first  ancient  writer  who  makes  mention  of  the 
manufacture  of  cloth  from  the  fibres  of  the  Pinna — Procopius  mentions  a 


CONTENTS. 


chlamys  'made  of  the  fibres  of  the  Pinna,  and  a  silken  tunic  adorned  with  sprigs 
.  ortfea^je-rs  of  gold — Boots  of  red  leather  worn  only  by  Emperors — Golden  fleece 
of  the  Pinna — St.  Basil's  account — Fibres  of  the  Pinna  not  manufactured  into 
cloth  at  Tarentum  in  ancient  times,  but  in  India — Diving  for  the  Pinna  at  Col- 
chi — Arrian's  account  174 


CHAPTER  XI. 

FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINE-APPLE. 

Fibres  of  the  Pine  Apple — Facility  of  dyeing — Manner  of  preparing  the  fibres  for 
weaving — Easy  cultivation  of  the  plant — Thrives  where  no  other  plant  will 
live — Mr.  Frederick  Burt  Zincke's  patent  process  of  manufacturing  cloth  from 
the  fibres  of  this  plant — Its  comparative  want  of  strength — Silken  material  pro- 
cured from  the  Papyfera — Spun  and  woven  into  cloth — Cloth  of  this  description 
manufactured  generally  by  the  Otaheiteans,  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  South 
Sea  Islands — Great  strength  (supposed)  of  ropes  made  from  the  fibres  of  the 
aloe — Exaggerated  statements       .......  185 


CHAPTER  XII. 

MALLOWS. 

CULTIVATION  AND  USE  OF  THE  MALLOW  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS.  TESTIMONY 

OF  LATIN,  GREEK,  AND  ATTIC  WRITERS. 

The  earliest  mention  of  Mallows  is  to  be  found  in  Job  xxx.  4. — Varieties  of  the 
Mallow — Cultivation  and  use  of  the  Mallow — Testimony  of  ancient  authors — 
Papias  and  Isidore's  mention  of  Mallow  cloth — Mallow  cloth  common  in  the 
days  of  Charlemagne — Mallow  shawls — Mallow  cloths  mentioned  in  the  Peri- 
plus  as  exported  from  India  to  Barygaza  (Baroch) — Calidasa  the  Indian  dram- 
atist, who  lived  in  the  first  century  B.  C. — His  testimony — Wallich's  (the  In- 
dian botanist)  account — Mantles  of  woven  bark,  mentioned  in  the  Sacontala 
of  Calidasa — Valcalas,  or  Mantles  of  woven  bark,  mentioned  in  the  Ramayana, 
a  noted  poem  of  ancient  India — Sheets  made  from  trees — Ctesia's  testimony 
— Strabo's  account — Testimony  of  Statius  Csecilius  and  Plautus,  who  lived  169 
B.  C.  and  184  B.  C. — Plautus's  laughable  enumeration  of  the  analogy  of  trades 
— Beauty  of  garments  of  Amorgos  mentioned  by  Eupoiis — Clearchus's  testi- 
mony— Plato  mentions  linen  shifts — Amorgine  garments  first  manufactured  at 
Athens  in  the  time  of  Aristophanes  .191 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

SPARTUM  OR  SPANISH  BROOM. 

CLOTH  MANUFACTURED  FROM  BROOM  BARK,  NETTLE,  AND  BULBOUS  PLANT.  

TESTIMONY  OF  GREEK  AND  LATIN  AUTHORS. 

Authority  for  Spanish  Broom — Stipa  Tenacissima — Cloth  made  from  Broom - 
bark — Albania — Italy — France — Mode  of  preparing  the  fibre  for  weaving — 


CONTENTS. 


Pliny's  account  of  Spartum — Bulbous  plant — Its  fibrous  coats-^JJfo^^j^... 
tion  of  Theophrastus — Socks  and  garments — Size  of  the  bulb — n!Ng™Wjo)t%  »  * 
species  not  sufficiently  defined — Remarks  of  various  modern  writers  on  this  plant 
— Interesting  communications  of  Dr.  Daniel  Stebbins,  of  Northampton,  Mass. 
to  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth  202 


PART  SECOND. 

ORIGIN  AND  ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  SHEEP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

sheep's  wool. 

SHEEP-BREEDING  AND  PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF 

THE  SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

The  Shepherd  Boy — Sheep-breeding  in  Scythia  and  Persia — Mesopotamia  and 
Syria — In  Idumeea  and  Northern  Arabia — In  Palestine  and  Egypt — In  Ethio- 
pia and  Libya — In  Caucasus  and  Coraxi — The  Coraxi  identified  with  the 
modern  Caratshai — In  Asia  Minor,  Pisidia,  Pamphylia,  Samos,  &c. — In  Caria 
and  Ionia — Milesian  wool — Sheep-breeding  in  Thrace,  Magnesia,  Thessaly, 
Euboea,  and  Boeotia — In  Phocis,  Attica,  and  Megaris — In  Arcadia — Worship 
of  Pan — Pan  the  god  of  the  Arcadian  Shepherds — Introduction  of  his  worship 
into  Attica — Extension  of  the  worship  of  Pan — His  dances  with  the  nymphs — 
Pan  not  the  Egyptian  Mendes,  but  identical  with  Faunus — The  philosophical 
explanation  of  Pan  rejected — Moral,  social,  and  political  state  of  the  Arcadians 
— Polybius  on  the  cultivation  of  music  by  the  Arcadians — Worship  of  Mercury 
in  connection  with  sheep-breeding  and  the  wool  trade — Present  state  of  Arca- 
dia— Sheep-breeding  in  Macedonia  and  Epirus — Shepherds'  dogs — Annual 
migration  of  Albanian  shepherds  217 

CHAPTER  II. 

SHEEP-BREEDING  AND  PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  ILLUS- 
TRATIONS OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

Sheep-breeding  in  Sicily — Bucolic  poetry — Sheep-breeding  in  South  Italy — An- 
nual migration  of  the  flocks — The  ram  employed  to  aid  the  shepherd  in  con- 
ducting his  flock — The  ram  an  emblem  of  authority — Bells — Ancient  inscription 
at  Sepino — Use  of  music  by  ancient  shepherds — Superior  quality  of  Tarentine 
sheep — Testimony  of  Columella — Distinction  of  the  coarse  and  soft  kinds — 
Names  given  to  sheep — Supposed  effect  of  the  water  of  rivers  on  wool — Sheep- 
breeding  in  South  Italy,  Tarentum,  and  Apulia — Brown  and  red  wool — Sheep- 
breeding  in  North  Italy — Wool  of  Parma,  Modena,  Mantua,  and  Padua — Ori- 


XV111  CONTENTS. 


gin  of  sheep-breeding  in  Italy — Faunus  the  same  with  Pan — Ancient  sculptures 
exhibiting  Faunus — Bales  of  wool  and  the  shepherd's  dress — Costume,  appear- 
ance, and  manner  of  life  of  the  ancient  Italian  shepherds  .       .  256 

CHAPTER  III. 

SHEEP-BREEDING  AND  PASfORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS — ILLUS- 
TRATIONS OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

Sheep-breeding  in  Germany  and  Gaul — In  Britain — Improved  by  the  Belgians 
and  Saxons — Sheep-breeding  in  Spain — Natural  dyes  of  Spanish  wool — Golden 
hue  and  other  natural  dyes  of  the  wool  of  Baetica — Native  colors  of  Baetic 
wool — Saga  and  chequered  plaids — Sheep  always  bred  principally  for  the 
weaver,  not  for  the  butcher — Sheep  supplied  milk  for  food,  wool  for  clothing — 
The  moth  282 


CHAPTER  IV. 


GOATS-HAIR. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

Sheep-breeding  and  goats  in  China — Probable  origin  of  sheep  and  goats — Sheep 
and  goats  coeval  with  man,  and  always  propagated  together — Habits  of  Gre- 
cian goat-herds — He-goat  employed  to  lead  the  flock — Cameo  representing  a 
goat-herd — Goats  chiefly  valued  for  their  milk — Use  of  goats' -hair  for  coarse 
clothing — Shearing  of  goats  in  Phrygia,  Cilicia,  &c. — Vestes  caprina,  cloth  of 
goats' -hair — Use  of  goats' -hair  for  military  and  naval  purposes — Curtains  to 
cover  tents — Etymology  of  Sack  and  Shag — Symbolical  uses  of  sack-cloth — 
The  Arabs  weave  goats' -hair — Modern  uses  of  goats' -hair  and  goats' -wool — 
Introduction  of  the  Angora  or  Cashmere  goat  into  France — Success  of  the 
Project  s  293 


CHAPTER  V. 

BEAVERS-WOOL. 

Isidorus  Hispalensis — Claudian — Beckmann — Beavers'-wool — Dispersion  of  Bea- 
vers through  Europe — Fossil  bones  of  Beavers       ....  309 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CAMELS-WOOL  AND  CAMELS-HAIR. 


Camels' -wool  and  Camels' -hair — Ctesia's  account — Testimony  of  modern  travel- 
lers— Arab  tent  of  Camels' -hair — Fine  cloths  still  made  of  Camels'-wool — The 
use  of  hair  of  various  animals  in  the  manufacture  of  beautiful  stuffs  by  the  ancient 
Mexicans — Hair  used  by  the  Candian  women  in  the  manufacture  of  broidered 
stuffs — Broidered  stuffs  of  the  negresses  of  Senegal — Their  great  beauty  312 


CONTENTS. 


xix 


PART  THIRD. 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 
CHAPTER  I. 

GREAT  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE  IN  INDIA — 
UNRIVALLED  SKILL  OF  THE  INDIAN  WEAVER. 

Superiority  of  Cotton  for  clothing,  compared  with  linen,  both  in  hot  and  cold  cli- 
mates— Cotton  characteristic  of  India — Account  of  Cotton  by  Herodotus, 
Ctesias,  Theophrastus,  Aristobulus,  Nearchus,  Pomponius  Mela — Use  of  Cot- 
ton in  India — Cotton  known  before  silk  and  called  Carpasus,  Carpasum,  Car- 
basum,  &c. — Cotton  awnings  used  by  the  Romans — Carbasus  applied  to  linen 
— Last  request  of  Tibullus — Muslin  fillet  of  the  vestal  virgin — Linen  sails,  &c, 
called  Carbasa — Valerius  Flaccus  introduces  muslin  among  the  elegancies  in 
the  dress  of  a  Phrygian  from  the  river  Rhyndacus — Prudentius's  satire  on  pride 
— Apuleius's  testimony — Testimony  of  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  and  Avienus — 
Pliny  and  Julius  Pollux — Their  testimony  considered — Testimony  of  Tertullian 
and  Philostratus — Of  Martianus  Capella — Cotton  paper  mentioned  by  The- 
ophylus  Presbyter — Use  of  Cotton  by  the  Arabians — Cotton  not  common  an- 
ciently in  Europe — Marco  Polo  and  Sir  John  Mandeville's  testimony  of  the 
Cotton  of  India — Forbes's  description  of  the  herbaceous  Cotton  of  Guzerat — 
Testimony  of  Malte  Brun — Beautiful  Cotton  textures  of  the  ancient  Mexicans 
— Testimony  of  the  Abbe  Clavigero — Fishing  nets  made  from  Cotton  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  West  India  Islands,  and  on  the  Continent  of  South  Amer- 
ica— Columbus's  testimony — Cotton  used  for  bedding  by  the  Brazilians  .  315 

CHAPTER  II. 

SPINNING  AND  WEAVING  MARVELLOUS  SKILL  DISPLAYED  IN  THESE 

ARTS. 

Unrivalled  excellence  of  India  muslins — Testimony  of  the  two  Arabian  travellers 
— Marco  Polo,  and  Odoardo  Barbosa's  accounts  of  the  beautiful  Cotton  tex- 
tures of  Bengal — Caesar  Frederick,  Tavernier,  and  Forbes's  testimony — Extra- 
ordinary fineness  and  transparency  of  Decca  muslins — Specimen  brought  by  Sir 
Charles  Wilkins  ;  compared  with  English  muslins — Sir  Joseph  Banks's  experi- 
ments— Extraordinary  fineness  of  Cotton  yarn  spun  by  machinery  in  England — 
Fineness  of  India  Cotton  yarn — Cotton  textures  of  Soonergong — Testimony  of 
R.  Fitch — Hamilton's  account — Decline  of  the  manufactures  of  Dacca  ac- 
counted for — Orme's  testimony  of  the  universal  diffusion  of  the  Cotton  manu- 
facture in  India — Processes  of  the  manufacture — Rude  implements — Roller  gin 
— Bowing.  (Eli  Whitney  inventor  of  the  cotton  gin — Tribute  of  respect  paid 
to  his  memory — Immense  value  of  Mr.  Whitney's  invention  to  growers  and  man- 
ufacturers of  Cotton  throughout  the  world.)   Spinning  wheel — Spinning  without 

3 


XX 


CONTENTS. 


a  wheel — Loom — Mode  of  weaving — Forbes's  description — Habits  and  remuner- 
ation of  Spinners,  Weavers,  &c. — Factories  of  the  East  India  Company — Mar- 
vellous skill  of  the  Indian  workman  accounted  for — Mills's  testimony — Principal 
Cotton  fabrics  of  India,  and  where  made — Indian  commerce  in  Cotton  goods — 
Alarm  created  in  the  woollen  and  silk  manufacturing  districts  of  Great  Britain 
— Extracts  from  publications  of  the  day — Testimony  of  Daniel  De  Foe  (Au- 
thor of  Robinson  Crusoe.) — Indian  fabrics  prohibited  in  England,  and  most 
other  countries  of  Europe — Petition  from  Calcutta  merchants — Present  con- 
dition of  the  City  of  Dacca — Mode  of  spinning  fine  yarns — Tables  showing 
the  comparative  prices  of  Dacca  and  British  manufactured  goods  of  the  same 
quality  '  333 


PART  FOURTH. 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


CHAPTER  L 

FLAX. 

CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  FLAX  BY  THE  ANCIENTS  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

Earliest  mention  of  Flax — Linen  manufactures  of  the  Egyptians — Linen  worn  by 
the  priests  of  Isis — Flax  grown  extensively  in  Egypt — Flax  gathering — Envel- 
opes of  Linen  found  on  Egyptian  mummies — Examination  of  mummy-cloth — 
Proved  to  be  Linen — Flax  still  grown  in  Egypt — Explanation  of  terms — Bys- 
sus — Reply  to  J.  R.  Forster — Hebrew  and  Egyptian  terms — Flax  in  North 
Africa,  Colchis,  Babylonia — Flax  cultivated  in  Palestine — Terms  for  flax  and 
tow — Cultivation  of  Flax  in  Palestine  and  Asia  Minor — In  Elis,  Etruria,  Cis- 
alpine Gaul,  Campania,  Spain — Flax  of  Germany,  of  the  Atrebates,  and  of  the 
Franks — Progressive  use  of  linen  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans         .  358 


CHAPTER  II. 

HEMP. 

Cultivation  and  Uses  of  Hemp  by  the  Ancients — Its  use  limited — Thrace — Col- 
chis— Caria — Etymology  of  Hemp  387 

CHAPTER  III. 


ASBESTOS. 

Uses  of  Asbestos — Carpasian  flax — Still  found  in  Cyprus — Used  in  funerals — As- 
bestine-cloth— How  manufactured — Asbestos  used  for  fraud  and  superstition 
by  the  Romish  monks — Relic  at  Monte  Casino  .  ...  390 


CONTENTS. 

APPENDICES. 


xxi 


APPENDIX  A. 

on  pliny's  natural  history. 

Sheep  and  wool — Price  of  wool  in  Pliny's  time — Varieties  of  wool  and  where  pro- 
duced— Coarse  wool  used  for  the  manufacture  of  carpets — Woollen  cloth  of 
Egypt — Embroidery — Felting — Manner  of  cleansing — Distaff  of  Tanaquil — 
Varro — Tunic — Toga — Undulate  or  waved  cloth — Nature  of  this  fabric — Fig- 
ured cloths  in  use  in  the  days  of  Homer  (900  B.  C.) — Cloth  of  gold — Figured 
cloths  of  Babylon — Damask  first  woven  at  Alexandria — Plaided  textures  first 
woven  in  Gaul — $150,000  paid  for  a  Babylonish  coverlet — Dyeing  of  wool  in 
the  fleece — Observations  on  sheep  and  goats — Dioscurias  a  city  of  the  Colchians 
— Manner  of  transacting  business  401 

APPENDIX  B. 

ON  the  origin  and  manufacture  of  linen  and  cotton  paper. 

THE  INVENTION  OF  LINEN  PAPER  PROVEN  TO  BE  OF  EGYPTIAN  ORIGIN  COTTON 

PAPER  MANUFACTURED  BY  THE  BUCHARIANS  AND  ARABIANS,  A.  D.  704. 

Wehrs  gives  the  invention  of  Linen  paper  to  Germany — Schonemann  to  Italy — 
Opinion  of  various  writers,  ancient  and  modern — Linen  paper  produced  in 
Egypt  from  mummy-cloth,  A.  D.  1200 — Testimony  of  Abdollatiph — Europe 
indebted  to  Egypt  for  linen  paper  until  the  eleventh  century — Cotton  paper — 
The  knowledge  of  manufacturing,  how  procured,  and  by  whom — Advantages 
of  Egyptian  paper  manufacturers — Clugny's  testimony — Egyptian  manuscript 
of  linen  paper  bearing  date  A.  D.  1100 — Ancient  water-marks  on  linen  paper 
— Linen  paper  first  introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Saracens  of  Spain.  (The 
Wasp  a  paper-maker — Manufacture  of  paper  from  shavings  of  wood,  and  from 
the  stalks  or  leaves  of  Indian-corn.)   404 

APPENDIX  C. 

ON  FELT. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF  FELTING  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 

Felting  more  ancient  than  weaving — Felt  used  in  the  East — Use  of  it  by  the 
Tartars — Felt  made  of  goats'-hair  by  the  Circassians — Use  of  felt  in  Italy  and 
Greece — Cap  worn  by  the  Cynics,  Fishermen,  Mariners,  Artificers,  &c. — 
Cleanthes  compares  the  moon  to  a  skull-cap — Desultores — Vulcan — Ulysses — 
Phrygian  bonnet — Cap  worn  by  the  Asiatics — Phrygian  felt  of  Camels'-hair — 
Its  great  stiffness — Scarlet  and  purple  felt  used  by  Babylonish  decorators — 
Mode  of  manufacturing  Felt — Northern  nations  of  Europe — Cap  of  liberty — 


xxii 


CONTENTS. 


Petasus — Statue  of  Endymion — Petasus  in  works  of  ancient  art — Hats  of  Thes- 
saly  and  Macedonia — Laconian  or  Arcadian  hats — The  Greeks  manufacture 
Felt  900  B.  C. — Mercury  with  the  pileus  and  petasus — Miscellaneous  uses  of 
Felt   ...  414 

APPENDIX  D. 

ON  NETTING. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF  NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS — ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE 
SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

Nets  were  made  of  Flax,  Hemp,  and  Broom — General  terms  for  nets — Nets  used 
for  catching  birds — Mode  of  snaring — Hunting-nets — Method  of  hunting — 
Hunting-nets  supported  by  forked  stakes — Manner  of  fixing  them — Purse-net 
or  tunnel-net — Homer's  testimony — Nets  used  by  the  Persians  in  lion-hunting 
— Hunting  with  nets  practised  by  the  ancient  Egyptians — Method  of  hunting 
— Depth  of  nets  for  this  purpose — Description  of  the  purse-net — Road-net — 
Hallier — Dyed  feathers  used  to  scare  the  prey — Casting-net — Manner  of  throw- 
ing by  the  Arabs — Cyrus  king  of  Persia — His  fable  of  the  piper  and  the  fishes 
— Fishing-nets — Casting-net  used  by  the  Apostles — Landing-net  (Scap-net) — 
The  Sean — Its  length  and  depth — Modern  use  of  the  Sean — Method  of  fishing 
with  the  Sean  practised  by  the  Arabians  and  ancient  Egyptians — Corks  and 
leads — Figurative  application  of  the  Sean — Curious  method  of  capturing  an 
enemy  practised  by  the  Persians — Nets  used  in  India  to  catch  tortoises — Bag- 
nets  and  small  purse-nets — Novel  scent-bag  of  Verres  the  Sicilian  praetor  436 


i 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 


I.  Frontispiece — Chinese  Looms. 

II.  Egyptian  Looms,  with  the  Processes  of  Spinning  and  Winding, 

to  face  page  93 


III.  Silk  Worm,  Cocoons,  Chrysalis,  Moths,  and  Pinna  .       .       .  118 

IV.  Spiders,  with  the  Processes  of  Spinning  and  Weaving  .  .  .172 
V.  Indian  Loom,  with  the  Process  of  Winding  off  the  Thread      .  315 

VI.  Egyptian  Flax-gathering.    Magnified  Fibres  of  Flax  and  Cotton  359 
VII.  Map,  showing  the  Divisions  of  the  Ancient  World,  coloured  ac- 
cording to  the  Raw  Materials  principally  produced  in  them 

for  Weaving   .       .       .  400 

VIII.  Caps  worn  by  Cynic  Philosopher,  Vulcan,  Daedalus,  Ulysses, 
and  a  Desultor.  Caps  worn  by  Modern  Greek  Boy  and 
Fisherman.   Mysian  Cap  or  Phrygian  Bonnet.   Coins  in  the 

British  Museum  415 

IX.  Statue  of  Endymion.    Hats  worn  by  Shepherds  and  Athenian 

Ephebi.    Coins  in  the  British  Museum  434 

X.  Hunting-scenes  in  bas-reliefs  at  Ince-Blundell.  Egyptians  with 

theDrag-Net  .   464 


PART  FIRST, 
ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


SILK, 


CHAPTER  I. 


SPINNING,  DYEING,  AND  WEAVING. 

Whether  Silk  is  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament — Earliest  Clothing — Coats  of 
Skin,  Tunic,  Simla — Progress  of  Invention — Chinese  chronology  relative  to  the 
Culture  of  Silk — Exaggerated  statements — Opinions  of  Mailla,  Le  Sage,  M. 
Lavoisne,  Rev.  J.  Robinson,  Dr.  A.  Clarke,  Rev.  W.  Hales,  D.D.,  Mairan, 
Bailly,  Guignes,  and  Sir  William  Jones — Noah  supposed  to  be  the  first  empe- 
ror of  China — Extracts  from  Chinese  publications — Silk  Manufactures  of  the 
island  of  Cos — Described  by  Aristotle — Testimony  of  Varro — Spinning  and 
Weaving  in  Egypt — Great  ingenuity  of  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  in  the  production 
of  Figured  Textures  for  the  Jewish  Tabernacle — Skill  of  the  Sidonian  women 
in  the  Manufacture  of  Ornamental  Textures — Testimony  of  Homer — Great 
antiquity  of  the  Distaff  and  Spindle — The  prophet  Ezekiel's  account  of  the 
Broidered  Stuffs,  etc.  of  the  Egyptians — Beautiful  eulogy  on  an  industrious 
woman — Helen  the  Spartan,  her  superior  skill  in  the  art  of  Embroidery — Golden 
Distaff  presented  her  by  the  Egyptian  queen  Alcandra — Spinning  a  domestic 
occupation  in  Miletus — Theocritus's  complimentary  verses  to  Theuginis  on  her 
industry  and  virtue — Taste  of  the  Roman  and  Grecian  ladies  in  the  decoration 
of  their  Spinning  Implements — Ovid's  testimony  to  the  skill  of  Arachne  in 
Spinning  and  Weaving — Method  of  Spinning  with  the  Distaff— Described  by 
Homer  and  Catullus — Use  of  Silk  in  Arabia  500  years  after  the  flood — For- 
ster's  testimony. 

To  please  the  flesh  a  thousand  arts  contend : 

The  miser's  heaps  of  gold,  the  figur'd  vest, 

The  gem,  the  silk-worm,  and  the  purple  dye, 

By  toil  acquir'd,  promote  no  other  end. — Peristeph.  Hymn.  x. 

Whether  silk  is  ever  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament 
cannot  perhaps  be  determined. 

In  Ezek.  xvi.  10  and  13,  "silk"  is  used  in  the  common 
English  bible  for  i^ft,  which  occurs  no  where  except  here, 
but  which;  as  appears  from  the  context,  certainly  meant  some 

1 


2.  /V  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

#  yafo^bie' article  of  female  dress.  Le  Clerc  and  Rosenmuller 
tr^rrsMe  it  "  serico Cocceius,  Schindler,  Buxtorf,  in  their 
Lexicons,  and  Dr.  John  Taylor  in  his  Concordance.,  give  the 
same  interpretation.  Augusti  and  De  Wette  in  their  German 
translation  make  it  signify  "  a  silken  veilP  Others  give  dif- 
ferent interpretations.  The  only  ground,  on  which  silk  of 
any  kind  is  supposed  to  be  meant,  is  that  in  the  Alexandrine 
or  Septuagint  version  is  translated  rptxavTov,  and  rpix^rov 

is  explained  by  Hesychius  to  mean  "  the  silken  web  fitted  to 
be  placed  over  the  hair  of  the  head  V  (to  Po^vkivov  vfa^a  iirtp  r&v 
\?js  ZnrrStxevop),  and  that  other  ancient  Greek  lexicogra- 
phers also  suppose  a  silken  garment  to  be  meant.*  But  the 
meaning  of  rpix^rov  is  in  reality  as  obscure  as  that  of  tjyjh. 
Jerome  could  not  discover  it,  and  concluded  that  the  wrord  was 
invented  by  the  Greek  translator.  It  is  now  extant  no  where 
else  except  in  a  passage  of  the  comic  Pherecrates  preserved  in 
Athenseus.  Schneider,  followed  by  Passow,  supposes  it  to 
mean  some  garment  made  of  hair,  and  quotes  to  this  effect 
the  explanation  of  Pollux  (2.  24.),  *\iypa  u  t9iX&v.  Although, 
therefore,  the  term  in  question  may  possibly  have  denoted 
some  elegant  and  costly  ornament  for  the  head,  made  at  least 
partly  of  silk,  yet  this  opinion  appears  to  rest  altogether  upon 
the  assumption,  first,  that  the  ancient  lexicographers  are  ac- 
curate in  their  use  of  the  epithet  /%/Woi/,  and  secondly,  that 
the  Alexandrine  version  is  accurate  in  adopting  the  word 

Tpixa^T0V* 

In  Isaiah  xix.  9,  according  to  King  James's  Translators 
and  Bishop  Lowth,  mention  is  made  of  those  "  that  work  in 
fine  flax,"  in  the  orignal  mpnB>  H35f.  Rosen- 

muller adopts  nearly  the  same  interpretation,  which  is  founded 
upon  the  use  of  the  verb  p*15^  or  pID  in  the  Chaldee  and 
Syriac  dialects  to  denote  the  operation  of  combing  flax,  wool, 
hair,  and  other  substances.  In  this  sense  the  word  has  been 
taken  by  the  author  of  the  Alexandrine  Version, 

TO  TO    GXl<TT°v  > 

by  Symmachus,  who  instead  of  <rxi(TTdv  uses 
KTZVIGTOV  :  and  by  Jerome,  "  qui  operabantur  linum  pectentes" 


*  See  Schleusner,  Lexicon  in  LXX.,  v.  Tp'ixa-rcrov. 


In  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  and  in  the  Syria^Versi<w^h^ 
same  root  is  taken  to  denote  silk ;  JOJ"0 
Targ.  V*°f^V  Uk*  s-.j^X  Syr.    Both  of  these  seem  to  ad- 
mit of  the  following  literal  translation,  "  those  who  make  silken 
tunics"  or  in  Latin,  "  Factores  tunicarum  e  sericis" 

Kimchi  supposes  jllpHtJ'  to  mean  silk  webs,  observing 
that  silk  is  called  pl£^  by  the  Arabs.  The  same  opin- 
ion has  been  adopted  by  Nicholas  Fuller*  Buxtorf,  and  other 
modern  critics.  Kennicott,  however,  arranges  the  words  in 
two  lines  as  follows, 

According  to  this  arrangement,  which  seems  most  suitable  to 
the  rules  of  grammatical  construction,  we  have  three  co-ordi- 
nate phrases  in  the  plural  number,  denoting  three  different 
classes  of  artificers.  The  second,  ftlp**!^,  would  by  its  ter- 
mination denote  female  artificers,  viz.  women  employed  in 
combing  wool,  flax,  or  other  substances.  On  the  whole  we 
are  inclined  to  adopt  this  explanation  of  the  word,  as  it  ap- 
pears to  be  attended  with  the  least  difficulty,  either  grammati- 
cal or  etymological. 

Silk  is  mentioned  Prov.  xxxi.  22.  in  King  James's  Trans- 
lation, i.  e.  the  common  English  version,  and  in  the  margin 
of  Gen.  xli.  42.  But  the  use  of  the  word  is  quite  unauthor- 
ized. 

After  a  full  examination  of  the  whole  question  Brauniust 
decides  that  there  is  no  mention  of  silk  in  the  whole  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  that  it  was  unknown  to  the  Hebrews  in 
ancient  times. 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt,"  says  Professor  Hurwitz,  "  that 
manufactures  and  the  arts  must  have  attained  a  high  degree 
of  perfection  at  the  time  when  Moses  wrote ;  and  that  many 
of  them  were  known  long  before  that  period,  we  have  the  evi- 
dence of  Scripture.    It  is  true  that  inventions  were  at  first 


*  Miscellanea  Sacra,  1.  ii.  c.  11. 

t  De  vestitu  Heb.  Sacerdotum,  1.  1.  cap.  viii.  §  8. 


4 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


few,  and  their  progress  very  slow,  but  they  were  suited  to  the 
then  condition  and  circumstances  of  man,  as  is  evident  even 
in  the  art  of  clothing.  Placed  in  the  salubrious  and  mild  air 
of  paradise,  our  first  parents  could  hardly  want  any  other  cov- 
ering than  what  decency  required.  Accordingly  we  find  that 
the  first  and  only  article  of  dress  was  the  mUH  chagora,  the 
belt,  (not  aprons,  as  in  the  established  version).  The  mate- 
rials of  which  it  was  made  were  fig  leaves ;  (Gen.  iii.  7.)  the 
same  tree  that  afforded  them  food  and  shelter,  furnished  them 
likewise  with  materials  for  covering  their  bodies.  But  when 
in  consequence  of  their  transgressions  they  were  to  be  ejected 
from  their  blissful  abode,  and  forced  to  dwell  in  less  favoura- 
ble regions,  a  more  substantial  covering  became  necessary, 
their  merciful  Creator  made  them  (i.  e.  inspired  them  with 
the  thoughts  of  making  for  themselves)  fiUrD  coats  of 

skins.  (Gen.  iii.  21.)  The  original  word  is  DJrO  c'thoneth, 
whence  the  Greek  Xl™v  the  tunic,  a  close  garment  that  was 
usually  worn  next  the  skin,  it  reached  to  the  knees,  and  had 
sleeves  (in  after  times  it  was  made  either  of  wool  or  linen.) 
After  man  had  subdued  the  sheep  (Hebrew  tJOD  caves  from 
to  subdue*)  and  learned  how  to  make  use  of  its  wool, 
we  find  a  new  article  of  dress,  namely  the  nSot^  simla,  an 
upper  garment :  it  consisted  of  a  piece  of  cloth  about  six  yards 
long  and  two  or  three  wide,  in  shape  not  unlike  our  blankets. 
This  will  explain  Gen.  ix.  23,  1  And  Shem  and  Japheth  took 
a  garment,  and  laid  it  upon  both  their  shoulders,  and  went 
backward  and  covered  the  nakedness  of  their  father.'  It 
served  as  a  dress  by  day,  as  a  bed  by  night,  (Exod.  xxii.  26,) 


*  There  is  not  the  least  shadow  of  truth  in  support  of  such  a  deduction  ;  and 
particularly  so  since  the  general  tenor  of  the  Scriptures  leads  to  a  very  different 
conclusion.  We  are,  therefore,  not  authorized  to  give  our  support  to  any  such 
hypothesis.  The  history  of  the  Sheep  and  Goat  is  so  interwoven  with  the  history 
of  man,  that  those  naturalists  have  not  reasoned  correctly,  who  have  thought  it 
necessary  to  refer  the  first  origin  of  either  of  them  to  any  wild  stock  at  all.  Such 
view  is,  we  imagine,  more  in  keeping  with  the  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  Scrip- 
ture History  with  regard  to  the  early  domestication  of  the  sheep.  Abel,  we  are 
told,  was  a  keeper  of  sheep,  and  it  was  one  of  the  firstlings  of  his  flock  that  he 
offered  to  the  Lord,  and  which,  proving  a  more  acceptable  sacrifice,  excited  the 
implacable  and  fatal  jealousy  of  his  brother  Cain.  (See  Part  ii.  pp.  217  and  29.3.) 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


5 


c  If  thou  at  all  take  thy  neighbour's  raiment  to  pledge,  thou 
shalt  deliver  it  unto  him  by  that  the  sun  goeth  down  ;  for  that 
is  his  covering  only ;  it  is  his  raiment  for  his  skin  :  wherein 
shall  he  sleep  V  And  sometimes  burdens  were  carried  in  it, 
(Exod.  xii.  34,)  'And  the  people  took  their  dough  before  it 
was  leavened,  their  kneading-troughs  being  bound  up  in  their 
clothes  upon  their  shoulders.' 

"  In  the  course  of  time  various  other  garments  came  into 
use,  as  mentioned  in  several  other  parts  of  Scripture.  The 
materials  of  which  these  garments  were  usually  made  are 
specified  in  Leviticus  xiii.  47 — 59,  1  The  garment  also  that 
the  plague  of  the  leprosy  is  in,  whether  it  be  a  woollen  gar- 
ment or  a  linen  garment,  wThether  it  be  in  the  warp  or  woof, 
of  linen  or  of  woollen ;  whether  in  a  skin,  or  in  anything 
made  of  skin,  &c.'  " 

In  our  search  for  the  distant  origin  of  any  art  or  science,  or 
in  looking  through  the  long  vista  of  ages  remote  even  to  na- 
tions extinct  before  our  own,  we  are  favored  with  satisfactory 
evidence  so  long  as  we  are  accompanied  with  authentic  records  : 
beyond,  all  is  dark,  obscure,  tradition,  fable.  On  such  ground 
it  would  be  credulous  or  rash  in  the  extreme  to  repeat  as  our 
own,  an  affirmation,  when  that  rests  on  the  single  testimony 
of  one  party  or  interest,  especially  when  that  is  of  a  very  ques- 
tionable character.  It  is  even  safer,  when  history  or  well  au- 
thenticated records  fail  us,  to  appeal  to  philosophy,  or  to  the 
well  known  laws  of  mind,  from  which  all  arts  and  science 
spring.  The  former  favors  us  with  the  commanding  evidence 
of  certainty  and  decision  ;  and  though  the  latter  may  only  af- 
ford the  testimony  of  analogy,  yet,  is  its  probability  more  safe, 
at  least,  than  what  rests  on  misguided  calculations  or  on  the 
legendary  tales  of  artifice  and  fiction. 

We  have,  however,  authentic  testimony  that  the  inventive 
faculty  existed  at  a  very  early  period.  The  peculiar  condition 
of  man  at  that  time  must  have  afforded  many  imperative  oc- 
casions for  its  exertion.  Hence  we  read  that  "  Jabal  was  the 
father  of  such  as  dwell  in  tents "  (i.  e.  inventor  of  tent-ma- 
king) ;  that  "  Jubal,  his  brother,  was  the  father  "  (inventor)  of 
musical  instruments  :  such  as  the  kinnor,  harp,  or  stringed  in- 


6 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


struments,  and  the  ugab,  organ,  or  wind  instruments  ;  that 
"  Tubal-cain  was  the  instructor  of  every  artificer  in  brass  and 
iron,"  the  first  smith  on  record,  or  one  to  teach  how  to  make 
instruments  and  utensils  out  of  brass  and  iron  ;  and  that  the 
sister  of  Tubal-cain  was  Naamah,  whom  the  Targum  of 
Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  affirms  to  have  been  the  inventrix  of 
plaintive  or  elegiac  poetry*.  Here  is  then  an  account  of  the 
inventive  faculty  being  in  exercise  3504  years  before  the 
Christian  era  ;  or  1156  years  prior  to  the  deluge  ;  or  804 
years  before  the  earliest  period  assigned  to  the  Chinese  for  the 
discovery  of  silk.  And  of  whatever  arts  or  sciences  existing 
amongst  men  prior  to  the  deluge,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  con- 
ceiving the  possibility  of  the  transmission  of  the  leading  and 
most  essential  parts,  at  least,  to  the  post-diluvians,  by  the  fam- 
ily of  Noah. 

But  instead  of  giving  our  unqualified  assent  to  what  has 
been  servilely  copied  from  book  to  book  from  the  most  accessible 
account,  we  shall  advert  to  the  great  discrepancy  relative  to 
Chinese  chronology,  amongst  those  who  have  had  equal  access 
to  their  records.  Thus  the  time  of  Fohi,  the  first  emperor,  has 
been  said  to  be  2951  B.  C,  by  some  2198  B.  C,  and  by  others 
2057,  or  about  300  years  after  the  deluge  :  of  Hoang-ti,  2700 
B.  C,  by  Mailla  it  is  quoted  at  2602  B.  C,  by  Le  Sage  at 
2597  B.  C,  and  by  Robinson  and  others  at  1703  B.  C.  Sim- 
ilar disagreements  might,  would  our  limits  allow,  be  observed 
concerning  the  rest,  and  particularly  of  the  emperors,  Hiao- 
wenti,  Chim-ti,  Ming-ti,  Youen-ti,  Wenti,  Wou-ti,  and  Hiao- 
wou-ti.  Even  in  more  modern  times,  and  relative  to  a  char- 
acter so  notorious  as  Confucius,  no  less  than  three  dates  are 


*  As  a  proof  that  the  inventive  faculty,  as  to  every  thing1  truly  useful  to  man, 
originally  proceeded  from  the  only  "  Giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift,"  con- 
sult Isa.  xxviii.  24 — 29 :  and  also  a  beautiful  comment  by  Dr.  A.  Clarke  on, 
"  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  all  that  are  wise  hearted,  whom  I  have  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  wisdom."  Exod.  xxviii.  3  :  and  also  on,  "  I  have  filled  him  with  the 
spirit  of  God  in  wisdom,  and  in  understanding,  and  in  knowledge,  and  in  all  man- 
ner of  workmanship  ;  to  devise  cunning  works,  to  work  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and 
in  brass  ;  and  in  cutting  of  stones,  to  set  them,  and  in  carving  of  timber,  to  work 
in  all  manner  of  curious  workmanship."    Exod.  xxxi.  3,  4,  and  5. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


7 


equally  affirmed  to  be  true.  As  to  Hoang-ti,  who  is  said  to 
have  begun  the  culture  of  silk,  we  are  inclined  to  prefer  the 
latter  account,  1703  B.  C,  which  makes  him  contemporary 
with  Joseph,  when  prime  minister  over  the  land  of  Egypt. 

As  a  confirmation  of  this,  it  may  be  stated,  that  by  referring 
to  the  account  given  of  nine*  of  the  patriarchs  at  this  period, 
we  shall  find  that  the  average  age  of  human  life,  before  much 
greater,  soon  after  rapidly  declined.  Now  the  average  dura- 
tion of  the  reigns  of  the  first  threet  Chinese  emperors,  including 
Hoang-ti,  was  118  years  ;  of  the  five  that  immediately  succeed- 
ed, only  68  years.  After  this,  until  the  Christian  era,  the  aver- 
age duration  of  a  single  reign  did  not  exceed  23  years,  and 
thence  until  the  present  time  not  13  years.  Since,  therefore, 
the  average  duration  of  the  reign  of  the  first  three  emperors 
bears  an  evident  and  fit  proportion  to  that  of  the  age  of  man 
at  the  period  specified,  though  not  at  any  other  before  or  after, 
being  in  the  former  case  as  much  too  small  as  it  would  in  the 
latter  be  too  great,  the  opinion  now  offered  is  the  only  one  that 
can  be  consistent  with  these  striking  facts ;  and,  if  duly  con- 
sidered, presents  an  argument  strongly  corroborating  this  view 
of  the  subject. 

To  attempt  to  establish  any  greater  certainty,  in  a  case  of 
this  nature,  the  Chinese  during  the  dynasty  of  Tschin,  having, 
to  conceal  the  truth,  destroyed  everything  authentic,  would  be 
in  vain.  It  would  be  even  more  rational  to  have  recourse  to 
the  Yedas,  or  sacred  books  of  the  Brahmins,  or  to  records  in 
the  Sanscrit,  were  it  not  a  well  known  fact,  that  nearly  all 
ancient  nations,  except  the  Jews,  actuated  by  the  same  ambi- 
tion, have  betrayed  a  wish  to  have  their  origin  traced  as  far 
back  as  the  creation.  And  in  the  gratification  of  this  passion 
none  are  so  notoriously  pre-eminent  as  the  Egyptians,  Hindoos, 
and  Chinese.t  For  them  the  limits  of  the  creation  itself  have 
been  too  narrow,  and  days,  weeks,  and  even  months  too  short, 
unless  multiplied  into  years.  § 


*  Peleg,  Reu,  Serug,  Nahor,  Terah,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob  and  Joseph: 
Gen.  xi.  16—26  ;  xlvii.  28  ;  and  1.  26.      t  Fohi,  Eohi  Chinun,  and  Hoang-ti. 
X  See  Dr.  A.  Clarke's  remarks :  end  of  Gen. 
§  See  pp.  68,  74,  119  and  294. 


8 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


The  chronology  relative  to  the  early  culture  of  silk,  as 
found  in  Chinese  documents,  for  several  irrefragable  objections 
already  assigned,  is  exceedingly  questionable,  and  therefore 
we  are  by  no  means  pledged  to  affirm  that  either  in  the 
authenticity  of  the  books,  or  in  the  correctness  of  the  dates  have 
we  any  faith.  M.  Lavoisne  dates  the  commencement  of  the 
Chinese  dynasties  at  A.  M.*  1816,  or  159  years  after  the  del- 
uge.  The  Rev.  J.  Robinson  of  Christ  Col.,  Cam.,  at  A.  M. 
1947.  We  have  already  given  as  strong  reasons,  as  under  the 
extreme  incertitude  of  the  case,  can,  perhaps,  be  offered,  for 
preferring  the  latter ;  the  important  points  may  be  briefly 
stated,  thus : 


End  of  the  deluge  tl657  A.  M. 

Fohi,  first  emperor,  began  to  reign       -  1947  A.  M. 

Noah  died  2007  A.  M. 

Eohi  Chimin,  second  emperor,  began  to  reign  -  -  2061  A.  M. 
Hoang-ti,  the  third  emperor,  began  to  reign  -       -    2201  A.  M. 

Hoang-ti  after  establishing  the  silk  culture,  died    -       -    2301  A.  M. 


Hoang-ti  was  therefore  contemporary  with  Joseph  when  ad- 
ministering the  affairs  of  Egypt. *  But  would  we  know  what 
account  the  Chinese  themselves  give  relative  to  the  earliest 
introduction  of  the  silk  culture,  we  shall  find  it  in  the  French 
version  of  the  Chinese  Treatises,  by  M.  Stanislas  Julien,  or  in 
the  following  words  of  pages  77  and  78,  as  translated  and 
published  in  1838,  at  Washington,  under  the  title  of  "  Sum- 
mary of  the  principal  Chinese  Treatises  upon  the  Culture  of 
the  Mulberry,  and  the  rearing  of  Silk-worms." 


*  A.  M.  signifies  Anno  Mundi,  that  is  in  the  year  of  the  World.  The  Year  of 
Our  Lord  always  commences  on  the  first  day  of  January,  the  day  on  which 
Christ  was  circumcised,  being  eight  days  old.  From  the  Creation  until  the  birth 
of  Christ,  was  4004  years. 

Tirin  places  the  birth  of  Christ  in  the  36th  year  of  Herod,  the  40th  of  Augus- 
tus, the  28th  from  the  battle  of  Actium,  the  749th  of  Rome,  and  the  4th  of  the 
193d  Olympiad. 

t  It  will  here  not  be  improper  to  observe  that  the  Samaritan  text  and  Septua- 
gint  version  of  the  Hebrew,  carry  the  deluge  as  far  back  as  to  the  year  3716  be- 
fore Christ ;  or  1000  years  before  the  Chinese  account  of  Hoang-ti.  On  this  sub- 
ject see  the  New  Analysis  of  Chronology,  by  the  Rev.  W.  Hales,  D.D.  4to.,  3  vol. 

X  Joseph  died  in  the  2369th  year  from  the  Creation. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


9 


In  the  book  on  silk-worms/"  we  read  :  "  The  lawful  wife  of 
the  emperor  Hoang-ti,  named  Si-ling-chi,  began  the  culture  of 
silk.  It  was  at  that  time  that  the  emperor  Hoang-ti  invented 
the  art  of  making  garments  (!)."  The  same  fact  is  mentioned 
more  in  detail  in  the  general  history  of  China,  by  P.  Mailla, 
in  the  year  2602,  before  our  era  (4447  years  ago). 

"  This  great  prince  (Hoang-ti)  was  desirous  that  Si-ling- 
chi,  his  legitimate  wife,  should  contribute  to  the  happiness  of 
his  people.  He  charged  her  to  examine  the  silk- worms,  and 
to  test  the  practicability  of  using  the  thread.  Si-ling-chi  had 
a  large  quantity  of  these  insects  collected,  which  she  fed  her- 
self, in  a  place  prepared  for  that  purpose,  and  discovered  not 
only  the  means  of  raising  them,  but  also  the  manner  of  reel- 
ing the  silk,  and  of  employing  it  to  make  garments." 

"  It  is  through  gratitude  for  so  great  a  benefit,"  says  the 
history,  entitled  Wai-ki,  "  that  posterity  has  deified  Si-ling- 
chi,  and  rendered  her  particular  honors  under  the  name  of 
the  goddess  of  silk-worms."  (Memoirs  on  the  Chinese,  vol. 
13,  p.  240.) 

We  have  seen  that  the  most  probable  account  relative  to  the 
time  of  Fohi,  said  to  have  been  the  first  Chinese  emperor,  is 
that  he  reigned  2057  years  before  the  Christian  era,  or  in  the 
year  of  the  world  1947.  "According  to  the  most  current 
opinion,"  says  M.  Lavoisne,  "  China  was  founded  by  one  of 
the  colonies  formed  at  the  dispersion  of  Noah's  posterity  under 
the  conduct  of  Yao,  who  took  for  his  colleague  Chun,  after- 
wards his  successor.  But  most  writers  consider  Fohi  to  have 
been  Noah  himself (!)." 

Now  the  deluge  terminated  A.  M.  1657,  and  Noah  lived 
after  the  deluge  350  years*,  and  therefore  died  A.  M.  2007 ; 
and  as  Fohi  is  said  to  have  reigned  114  years,  before  Eohi 
Chun  or  Chinun  succeeded  him,  he  was  contemporary,  at 
least,  with  Noah.  The  ark  rested  on  Mount  Ararat,  which  is 
generally  allowed  to  be  one  of  the  mountains  of  Armenia,  to 
the  east  of  the  head  of  the  Tigris.  And  here  the  same  author 
remarks,  that  "  in  rather  less  than  a  century  and  a  half,  after 


*  Gen.  ix.  28. 

2 


10 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


the  birth  of  Peleg,  it  is  supposed  that  Noah,  being  then  about 
his  840th  year,  wearied  with  the  growing  depravity  of  his 
descendants,  retired  with  a  select  company  to  a  remote 
corner  of  Asia,  and  there  began  what  in  after  ages  has 
been  termed  the  Chinese  monarchy P*  This  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, we  believe,  coincides  perfectly  with  the  reputable  testi- 
monies presented  by  Mairan,  Bailly,  Guignes,  and  Sir  William 
Jones,  and  demonstrates  that  the  transit  of  more  central  abo- 
rigines, since  the  deluge,  to  the  extremes  of  China,  was  per- 
fectly feasible,!  and  a  matter  of  even  high  probability. 

The  first  ancient  author,  who  affords  any  evidence  respect- 
ing the  use  of  silk,  is  Aristotle.  He  does  not,  however,  appear 
to  have  been  accurately  acquainted  with  the  changes  of  the 
silk-worm ;  nor  does  he  say,  that  the  animal  was  bred  or  the 
raw  material  produced  in  Cos.  He  only  says,  "Pamphile, 
daughter  of  Plates,  is  reported  to  have  first  woven  it  in  Cos." 
(See  Chapters  ii.  iii.  and  iv.  of  this  Part.) 

Long  before  the  time  of  Aristotle  a  regular  trade  had  been 
established  in  the  interior  of  Asia,  which  brought  its  most 
valuable  productions,  and  especially  those  which  were  most 
easily  transported,  to  the  shores  opposite  this  flourishing  island. 
Nothing  therefore  is  more  likely  than  that  the  raw  silk  from 
the  interior  of  Asia  was  brought  to  Cos  and  there  manufac- 
tured. We  shall  see  hereafter  from  the  testimony  of  Procopius, 
that  it  was  in  like  manner  brought  some  centuries  later  to  be 
woven  in  the  Phoenician  cities,  Tyre  and  Berytus. 

The  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving,  which  rank  next  in  im- 
portance to  agriculture,  having  been  found  among  almost  all 
the  nations  of  the  old  and  new  continents,  even  among  those 
little  removed  from  barbarism,  are  reasonably  supposed  to 
have  been  invented  at  a  very  remote  period  of  the  world's 
history}:.    They  evidently  existed  in  Egypt  in  the  time  of 


*  Clarke's  "  Treatise  on  the  Mulberry -tree,  and  Silk-worm,"  pp.  14,  18,  20, 
21,  27,  and  34. 

t  See  chap.  iv.  p.  67.    Also  Plate  VII.  (Map. 

X  According  to  Pliny,  Semiramis,  the  Assyrian  queen,  was  believed  to  have 
been  the  inventress  of  the  art  of  weaving.    Minerva  is  in  some  of  the  ancient 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


11 


Joseph  (1700  years  before  the  Christian  era),  as  it  is  recorded 
that  Pharaoh  "  arrayed  him  in  vestures  of  fine  linen."  (Gene- 
sis xli.  42.)  Two  centuries  later,  the  Hebrews  carried  with 
them  on  their  departure  from  that  ancient  seat  of  civilization, 
the  arts  of  spinnings  dyeing,  weaving,  and  embroidery  ;  for 
when  Moses  constructed  the  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness,  "  the 
women  that  were  wise-hearted  did  spin  with  their  hands,  and 
brought  that  which  they  had  spun,  both  of  blue,  and  of  pur- 
ple, and  of  scarlet,  and  of  fine  linen."  (Exod.  xxxv.  25.) 
They  also  "  spun  goats7  hair and  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab 
"worked  all  manner  of  work,  of  the  engraver,  and  of  the 
cunning  workman,  and  of  the  embroiderer,  in  blue,  and  of 
purple,  and  in  scarlet,  and  in  fine  linen,  and  of  the  weaver? 
These  passages  contain  the  earliest  mention  of  woven  cloth- 
ing, which  was  linen,  the  national  manufacture  of  Egypt. 
The  prolific  borders  of  the  Nile  furnished  from  the  remotest 
periods,  as  at  the  present  time,  abundance  of  the  finest  flax* ; 
and  it  appears,  from  the  testimony  both  of  sacred  and  profane 
history,  that  linen  continued  to  be  almost  the  only  kind  of 
clothing  used  in  Egypt  till  after  the  Christian  erat.  The 
Egyptians  exported  their  "  linen  yarn,"  and  "  fine  linen,"  to 
the  kingdom  of  Israel,  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  (2  Chron.  i. 
16;  Prov.  vii.  16;)  their  "fine  linen  with  broidered  work,"  to 
Tyre,  (Ezek.  xxvii.  7.) 

The  women  of  Sidon  before  the  Trojan  war,  were  especially 
celebrated  for  the  skill  in  embroidery  :  and  Homer,  who  lived 
900  years  B.  C,  mentions  Helen  as  being  engaged  in  em- 
broidering the  combats  of  the  Greeks  and  Trojans. 


statutes  represented  with  a  distaff,  to  intimate  that  she  taught  men  the  art  of  spin- 
ning ;  and  this  honor  is  given  by  the  Egyptians  to  Isis,  by  the  Mohammedans  to 
a  son  of  Japhet.  by  the  Chinese  to  the  consort  of  their  emperor  Yao,  and  by  the 
Peruvians  to  Mamaoella,  wife  to  Manco-Capac,  their  first  sovereign.  These 
traditions  serve  only  to  carry  the  invaluable  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving  up  to 
an  extremely  remote  period,  long  prior  to  that  of  authentic  history. 

*  Paintings  representing  the  gathering  and  preparation  of  flax  have  been  found 
on  the  walls  of  the  ancient  sepulchres  at  Eleithias  and  Beni  Hassan,  in  Upper 
Egypt,  and  are  described  and  copied  by  Hamilton. — "  Remarks  on  several  parts 
of  Turkey,  and  on  ancient  and  modern  Egypt,"  pp.  97  and  287,  plate  23. 

t  Herodotus,  book  ii.  c.  37,  81.    (See  Plate  vi.) 


12 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


The  transition  from  vegetable  fibre  to  the  use  of  animal 
staples,  such  as  wool  and  hair,  could  not  have  been  very  dif- 
ficult ;  indeed,  as  already  stated,  it  took  place  at  a  period  of 
which  we  possess  no  very  authentic  written  record. 

The  instrument  used  for  spinning  in  all  countries,  from  the 
earliest  times,  was  the  distaff  and  spindle.  This  simple  ap- 
paratus was  put  by  the  Greek  mythologists  into  the  hands  of 
Minerva  and  the  Parcee ;  Solomon  employs  upon  it  the  indus- 
try of  the  virtuous  woman ;  to  the  present  day  the  distaff  is 
used  in  India,  Egypt,  and  other  eastern  countries. 

The  ancient  spindle,  or  distaff  was  a  very  simple  instru- 
ment. The  late  Lady  Calcott  informs  us,  that  it  continued 
even  to  our  own  days  to  be  used  by  the  Hindoos  in  all  its 
primitive  simplicity.  "  I  have  seen,"  she  says,  "  the  rock  or 
distaff  formed  simply  of  the  leading  shoot  of  some  young 
tree,  carefully  peeled,  it  might  be  birch  or  elder,  and,  further 
north,  of  fir  or  pine ;  and  the  spindle  formed  of  the  beautiful 
shrub  Euonymus,  or  spindle- tree."* 

Spinning  among  the  Egyptians,  as  among  our  ancestors 
of  no  very  distant  age,  was  a  domestic  occupation  in  which 
ladies  of  rank  did  not  hesitate  to  engage.  The  term  "  spin- 
ster "  is  yet  applied  to  unmarried  ladies  of  every  rank,  and 
there  are  persons  yet  alive  who  remember  to  have  seen  the 
spinning  wheel  an  ordinary  piece  of  furniture  in  domestic 
economy. 

We  are  told  that  "  Solomon  had  horses  brought  out  of  Egypt 


*  The  superior  fineness  of  some  Indian  muslins,  and  their  quality  of  retaining, 
longer  than  European  fabrics,  an  appearance  of  excellence,  has  occasioned  a  be- 
lief that  the  cotton  wool  of  which  they  are  woven  is  superior  to  any  known  else- 
where ;  this,  however,  is  so  far  from  being  the  fact,  that  no  cotton  is  to  be  found 
in  India  which  at  all  equals  in  quality  the  better  kinds  produced  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  The  excellence  of  India  muslins  must  be  wholly  ascribed  to 
the  skilfulness  and  patience  of  the  workmen,  as  shown  in  the  different  processes 
of  spinning  and  weaving.  (See  Plate  v.)  Their  yarn  is  spun  upon  the  distaff, 
and  it  is  owing  to  the  dexterous  use  of  the  finger  and  thumb  in  forming  the 
thread,  and  to  the  moisture  which  it  thus  imbibes,  that  its  fibres  are  more  per- 
fectly incorporated  than  they  can  be  through  the  employment  of  any  mechanical 
substitutes. 


SILK  BY   THE  ANCIENTS. 


13 


and  linen  yarn ;  the  king's  merchants  received  the  linen  yarn 
at  a  price."  (1  Kings,  x.  28.)  And  the  linen  of  Egypt  was 
highly  valued  in  Palestine,  for  the  seducer,  in  Proverbs,  says, 
"  I  have  decked  my  bed  with  coverings  of  tapestry,  with  carv- 
ed works,  with  fine  linen  of  Egypt."  (Prov.  vii.  16.)  The 
prophet  Ezekiel  also  declares  that  the  export  of  the  textile 
fabrics  was  an  important  branch  of  Phoenician  commerce ; 
for  in  his  enumeration  of  the  articles  of  traffic  in  Tyre,  he 
says :  "  Fine  linen  with  broidered  work  from  Egypt  was  that 
which  thou  spreadest  forth  to  be  thy  sail ;  blue  and  purple 
from  the  isles  of  Elisha  was  that  which  covered  thee." 
(Ezek.  xxvii.  7.) 

It  deserves  to  be  remarked  that  the  prophet  here  joins 
Egypt  with  the  isles  of  Elisha  or  Elis,  that  is,  the  districts  of 
western  Greece,  and  thus  confirms  the  ancient  tradition  re- 
corded by  Herodotus  of  some  Egyptian  colonists  having  set- 
tled in  that  country,  which  the  sceptics  of  the  German  school 
of  history  have  thought  proper  to  deny.*  Spinning  was 
wholly  a  female  employment ;  it  is  rather  singular  that  we 
find  this  work  frequently  performed  by  a  large  number  col- 
lected together,  as  if  the  factory  system  had  been  established 
3000  years  ago. 

We  have,  however,  many  specimens  of  spinning  as  a  do- 
mestic employment.  Indeed,  attention  to  the  spindle  and 
distaff  forms  a  leading  feature  in  king  Lemuel's  description 
of  a  virtuous  woman.  "  Who  can  find  a  virtuous  woman  ? 
for  her  price  is  far  above  rubies.  The  heart  of  her  husband 
doth  safely  trust  in  her,  so  that  he  shall  have  no  need  of  spoil. 
She  will  do  him  good  and  not  evil  all  the  days  of  her  life. 


*  The  sceptical  school  of  history,  founded  by  Niebuhr,  in  Germany,  and  ex- 
tended by  his  disciples  to  a  sweeping  incredulity,  far  beyond  what  was  contem- 
plated by  the  founder,  has  labored  hard  to  prove,  that  the  Greek  system  of  civili- 
zation was  indigenous,  and  that  the  candid  confession  of  Herodotus,  attributing 
to  Egyptian  colonies  the  first  introduction  of  the  arts  of  life  into  Hellas,  was  an 
idle  tale,  or  a  groundless  tradition.  But  the  examination  of  the  monuments  has 
proved  that  Greek  art  originated  in  Egypt ;  and  that  the  elements  of  the  archi- 
tectural, sculptural,  and  pictorial  wonders  which  have  rendered  Greece  and  Italy 
illustrious,  were  derived  from  the  valley  of  the  Nile. 


14 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


She  seeketh  wool  and  flax,  and  worketh  willingly  with  her 
hands.  She  is  like  the  merchant's  ships;  she  bringeth  her 
food  from  afar.  She  riseth  also  while  it  is  yet  night,  and 
giveth  meat  to  her  household,  and  a  portion  to  her  maidens. 
She  considereth  a  field,  and  buyeth  it ;  with  the  fruit  of  her 
hands  she  planteth  a  vineyard.  She  girdeth  her  loins  with 
strength,  and  strengtheneth  her  arms.  She  perceiveth  that 
her  merchandise  is  good :  her  candle  goeth  not  out  by  night. 
She  layeth  her  hands  to  the  spindle,  and  her  hands  hold  the 
distaff.  She  stretcheth  out  her  hand  to  the  poor ;  yea,  she 
reacheth  forth  her  hands  to  the  needy.  She  is  not  afraid  of 
the  snow  for  her  household :  for  all  her  household  are  clothed 
with  scarlet.  She  maketh  herself  coverings  of  tapestry ;  her 
clothing  is  silk  and  purple.  Her  husband  is  known  in  the 
gates,  when  he  sitteth  among  the  elders  of  the  land.  She 
maketh^fine  linen,  and  selleth  it ;  and  delivereth  girdles  unto 
the  merchant."   (Prov.  xxxi.  10-24.) 

Hamilton  and  Wilkinson  have  already  shown  that  many 
of  the  descriptions  of  combats  we  meet  in  the  Iliad  appear  to 
have  been  derived  from  the  battle  pieces  on  the  walls  of  the 
Theban  palaces,  which  the  poet  himself  pretty  plainly  inti- 
mates that  he  had  visited.  The  same  observation  may  be 
applied  to  most  of  Homer's  pictures  of  domestic  life.  We  find 
the  lady  of  the  mansion  superintending  the  labors  of  her  ser- 
vants, and  using  the  distaff  herself.  Her  spindle  made  of 
some  precious  material,  richly  ornamented,  her  beautiful 
work-basket,  or  rather  vase,  and  the  wool  dyed  of  some  bright 
hue  to  render  it  worthy  of  being  touched  by  aristocratic  fin- 
gers, remind  us  of  the  appropriate  present  which  the  Egyp- 
tian queen,  Alcandra,  made  to  the  Spartan  Helen ;  for  the 
beauty  of  that  frail  fair  one  scarcely  is  less  celebrated  than  her 
skill  in  embroidery  and  every  species  of  ornamental  work. 
After  Polybus  had  given  his  presents  to  Menelaus,  who  stop- 
ped at  Egypt  on  his  return  from  Troy, 

Alcandra,  consort  of  his  high  command, 

A  golden  distaff  gave  to  Helen's  hand  ; 

And  that  rich  vase,  with  living  sculpture  wrought, 

Which,  heap'd  with  wool,  the  beauteous  Phylo  brought ; 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


15 


The  silken  fleece  empurpled  for  the  loom, 
Rivall'd  the  hyacinth  in  vernal  bloom. 

Odyssey,  iv. 

In  the  hieroglyphics  over  persons  employed  with  the  spindle 
on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  word 
saht,  which  in  Coptic  signifies  to  twist,  constantly  occurs. 
The  spindles  were  generally  of  wood,  and  in  order  to  increase 
their  impetus  in  turning,  the  circular  head  was  occasionally  of 
gypsum,  or  composition :  some,  however,  were  of  a  light  plait- 
ed work,  made  of  rushes,  or  palm  leaves,  stained  of  various 
colors,  and  furnished  with  a  loop  of  the  same  materials,  for 
securing  the  twine  after  it  was  wound*.  Sir  Gardner  Wilkin- 
son found  one  of  these  spindles  at  Thebes,  with  some  of  the 
linen  thread  upon  it,  and  is  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum. 

Theocritus  has  given  us  a  very  striking  proof  of  the  pleas- 
ure which  the  women  of  Miletus  took  in  these  employments ; 
for,  when  he  went  to  visit  his  friend  Nicias,  the  Milesian  phy- 
sician, to  whom  he  had  previously  addressed  his  eleventh  and 
thirteenth  Idylls,  he  carried  with  him  an  ivory  distaff  as  a 
present  for  Theugenis,  his  friend's  wife.  He  accompanied  his 
gift  with  the  following  ^verses,  which  modestly  commend  the 
matron's  industry  and  virtue,  and,  at  the  same  time,  throw  an 
interesting  light  on  the  domestic  economy  of  the  ladies  of  Mi- 
letus : 

O  Distaff,  friend  to  warp  and  woof, 
Minerva's  gift  in  man's  behoof, 
Whom  careful  housewives  still  retain, 
And  gather  to  their  households'  gain ; 
With  me  repair,  no  vulgar  prize, 
Where  the  famed  towers  of  Nileus  riset, 
Where  Cytherea's  swayful  power 
Is  worship'd  in  the  reedy  bower. 


*  The  ordinary  distaff  does  not  occur  in  these  subjects,  but  we  may  conclude 
they  had  it.  Homer  mentions  one  of  gold,  given  to  Helen  by  "  Alcandra  the 
wife  of  Polybus,"  who  lived  in  Egyptian  Thebes. — Od.  iv.  131. 

t  Miletus  was  called  "  the  towers  of  Nileus,"  from  its  having  been  founded  by 
Nileus,  the  son  of  the  celebrated  king  Codrus,  who  devoted  himself  for  the  safety 
of  Athens.  Nileus  was  so  indignant  at  the  abolition  of  royalty  on  his  father's 
death,  that  he  migrated  to  Ionia. 


16 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


Thither,  would  Jove  kind  breezes  send, 
I  steer  my  course  to  meet  my  friend. 
Nicias,  the  Graces'  honor'd  child, 
Adorn'd  with  sweet  persuasion  mild, 
That  I  his  kindness  may  requite — 
May  be  delighted,  and  delight. 
Thee,  ivory  distaff,  I  provide, 
A  present  for  his  blooming  bride  ; 
With  her  thou  wilt  sweet  toil  partake 
And  aid  her  various  vests  to  make. 
For  Theugenis  the  shepherds  shear 
The  sheep's  soft  fleeces  twice  a  year, 
So  dearly  industry  she  loves 
And  all  that  wisdom  points,  approves, 
I  ne'er  design'd  to  bear  thee  hence 
To  the  dull  house  of  Indolence  ; 
For,  in  that  city  thou  wert  framed 
Which  Archias  built,  Corinthian  named, — 
Fair  Syracuse,  Sicilia's  pride, 
Where  troops  of  famous  men  abide. 
Dwell  thou  with  him  whose  art  can  cure 
Each  dire  disease  that  men  endure  ; 
Thee  to  Miletus  now  I  give, 
Where  pleasure-crown'd  Ionians  live  ; 
That  Theugenis  by  thee  may  gain 
Fair  honor  with  the  female  trefin ; 
And  thou  renew  within  her  breast 
Remembrance  of  her  muse-charm'd  guest. 
Admiring  thee,  each  maid  will  call 
The  favor  great,  the  present  small ; 
For  love  the  smallest  gift  commends, 
All  things  are  valued  by  our  friends. 

Idyll,  xxviii. 

The  Roman  and  Grecian  ladies  displayed  not  less  taste  in 
the  decoration  of  their  various  spinning  implements,  than 
those  of  modern  times  in  the  ornaments  of  their  work-table. 
The  calathus  or  qualus  was  the  basket  in  which  the  wool 
was  kept  for  the  fair  spinsters.  It  was  usually  made  of  wick- 
er-work. Thus  Catullus  in  his  description  of  the  nuptials  of 
Peleus  and  Thetis,  says  : 

The  softest  fleeces,  white  as  driven  snow, 
Beside  their  feet  in  osier  baskets  glow. 

Poema,  lxiv. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


17 


Homer  asserts  that  the  Egyptian  queen  Alcandra  presented 
Helen  with  a  silver  work-basket  as  well  as  a  golden  distaff 
(Odyss.  iv.) ;  and  from  the  paintings  on  ancient  vases,  we 
see  that  the  calathi  of  ladies  of  rank  were  tastefully  wrought 
and  richly  ornamented.  From  the  term  qualus  or  quasiUus, 
equivalent  to  calathus,  the  Romans  called  the  female  slaves 
employed  in  spinning  quasillarice. 

The  material  prepared  for  spinning  was  wrapped  loosely 
round  the  distaff,  the  wool  being  previously  combed,  or  the  flax 
hackled  by  processes  not  very  dissimilar  to  those  used  at  the 
present  day  amongst  the  peasantry  in  the  west  of  Ireland. 
The  ball  thus  formed  on  the  distaff  required  to  be  arranged 
with  some  neatness  and  skill,  in  order  that  the  fibres  should 
be  sufficiently  loose  to  be  drawn  out  by  the  hand  of  the  spin- 
ner. Ovid  declares,  that  Arachne's  skill  in  this  simple  process 
excited  the  wonder  of  the  nymphs  who  came  to  see  her  tri- 
umphs in  the  texile  art,  not  less  than  the  finished  labors  of 
the  loom. 

Oft,  to  admire  the  niceness  of  her  skill, 

The  nymphs  would  quit  their  fountain,  shade,  or  hill : 

Thither  from  green  Tymolus  they  repair, 

And  leave  the  vineyards,  their  peculiar  care  ; 

Thither  from  fair  Pactolus'  golden  stream, 

Drawn  by  her  art,  the  curious  Naids  came. 

Nor  would  the  work,  when  finish'd,  please  so  much 

As  while  she  wrought  to  view  each  graceful  touch ; 

Whether  the  shapeless  wool  in  balls  she  wound, 

Or  with  quick  motion  turn'd  the  spindle  round. 

Met,  vi. 

The  distaff  was  generally  about  three  feet  in  length,  com- 
monly a  stick  or  reed,  with  an  expansion  near  the  top  for 
holding  the  ball.  It  was  sometimes,  as  we  have  shown, 
composed  of  richer  materials.  The  distaff  was  usually  held 
under  the  left  arm,  and  the  fibres  were  drawn  out  from  the 
projecting  ball,  being,  at  the  same  time,  spirally  twisted  by  the 
forefinger  and  thumb  of  the  right  hand.  The  thread  so  pro- 
duced was  wound  upon  the  spindle  until  the  quantity  was  as 
great  as  it  would  carry. 

The  spindle  was  made  of  some  light  wood,  or  reed,  and  was 

3 


18 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


generally  from  eight  to  twelve  inches  in  length.  At  the  top 
of  it  was  a  slit,  or  catch,  to  which  the  thread  was  fixed,  so 
that  the  weight  of  the  spindle  might  carry  the  thread  down  to 
the  ground  as  fast  as  it  was  finished.  Its  lower  extremity  was 
inserted  into  a  whorl,  or  wheel,  made  of  stone,  metal,  or  some 
heavy  material  which  both  served  to  keep  it  steady  and  to  pro- 
mote its  rotation.  The  spinner,  who,  as  we  have  said  before, 
was  usually  a  female,  every  now  and  then  gave  the  spindle  a 
fresh  gyration  by  a  gentle  touch  so  as  to  increase  the  twist  of 
the  thread.  Whenever  the  spindle  reached  the  ground  a  length 
was  spun  ;  the  thread  was  then  taken  out  of  the  slit,  or  clasp, 
and  wound  upon  the  spindle ;  the  clasp  was  then  closed  again, 
and  the  spinning  of  a  new  thread  commenced.  All  these  cir- 
cumstances are  briefly  mentioned  by  Catullus,  in  a  poem  from 
which  we  have  already  quoted  : — a 

The  loaded  distaff,  in  the  left  hand  placed, 

With  spongy  coils  of  snow-white  wool  was  graced ; 

From  these  the  right  hand  lengthening  fibres  drew 

Which  into  thread  'neath  nimble  fingers  grew. 

At  intervals  a  gentle  touch  was  given 

By  which  the  twirling  whorl  was  onward  driven. 

Then,  when  the  sinking  spindle  reach'd  the  ground, 

The  recent  thread  around  its  spire  was  wound, 

Until  the  clasp  within  its  nipping  cleft 

Held  fast  the  newly-finish'd  length  of  weft. 

In  order  to  understand  this  description  of  Catullus,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  bear  in  mind,  that  as  the  bobbin  of  each  spindle 
was  loaded  with  thread,  it  was  taken  off  from  the  whorl  and 
placed  in  a  basket  until  there  was  a  sufficient  quantity  for  the 
weavers  to  commence  their  operations. 

Homer  incidentally  mentions  the  spool  or  spindle  on  which 
the  weft-yarn  was  wound,  in  his  description  of  the  race  at  the 
funeral-games  in  honor  of  Patroclus  : 

Oileus  led  the  race  ; 
The  next  Ulysses,  measuring  pace  with  pace 
Behind  him,  diligently  close  he  sped, 
As  closely  following  as  the  running  thread 
The  spindle  follows,  and  displays  the  charms 
Of  the  fair  spinner's  breast,  and  moving  arms. 

Iliad,  xxiii. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


19 


In  India  women  of  all  castes  prepare  the  cotton  thread  for 
the  weaver,  spinning  it  on  a  piece  of  wire,  or  a  very  thin  rod 
of  polished  iron  with  a  ball  of  clay  at  one  end ;  this  they  turn 
round  with  the  left  hand,  and  supply  the  cotton  with  the  right ; 
the  thread  is  then  wound  upon  a  stick  or  pole,  and  sold  to  the 
merchants  or  weavers ;  for  the  coarser  thread  the  women  make 
use  of  a  wheel  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Irish  spinster, 
though  upon  a  smaller  construction.  (For  further  information 
on  the  manufactures  of  India,  their  present  state,  &c,  see 
Part  III.) 

The  Reverend  Mr.  C.  Forster  of  Great  Britain,  has  lately 
published  a  very  curious  work  on  Arabia,  being  the  result  of 
many  years'  untiring  research  in  that  part  of  the  world ;  from 
which  we  learn  the  very  interesting  fact,  that  the  ancient 
Arabians  were  skilled  in  the  manufacture  of  silken  textures, 
at  as  remote  a  period  as  within  500  years  of  the  flood  ! 

Mr.  Forster  has,  it  appears,  succeeded  in  deciphering  many 
very  remarkable  inscriptions  found  on  some  ancient  monuments 
near  Adon  on  the  coast  of  Hadramant.  These  records,  it  is 
said,  restore  to  the  world  its  earliest  written  language,  and  carry 
us  back  to  the  time  of  Jacob,  and  within  500  years  of  the 
flood. 

The  inscriptions  are  in  three  parts.  The  longest  is  of  ten 
lines,  engraved  on  a  smooth  piece  of  rock  forming  one  side  of 
the  terrace  at  Hisn  Ghorab.  Then  there  are  three  short  lines, 
found  on  a  small  detached  rock  on  the  summit  of  the  little  hill. 
There  are  also  two  lines  found  near  the  inscriptions,  lower 
down  the  terrace.  They  all  relate  to  one  transaction,  an  in- 
cident in  Adite  history.  The  tribe  of  Ad,  according  to  Mr. 
Sale,  were  descended  from  Ad  the  son  of  Aws  or  Uz,  the  son 
of  Aram,  the  son  of  Shem,  the  son  of  Noah.  The  event  re- 
corded is  the  rout  and  entire  destruction  of  the  sons  of  Ac,  an 
Arab  tribe,  by  the  Aws  or  tribe  of  Ad,  whom  they  invaded.  In 
Mr.  Forster's  book  fac  similes  are  given  of  the  inscription ;  the 
Aditie  and  the  Hamyaritie  alphabet ;  and  a  glossary  containing 
every  word  in  them,  its  derivation,  and  its  explanation ;  with 
notes  of  copious  illustration  upon  every  point  which  they  in- 
volve.   The  first  inscription  of  ten  lines  is  thus  translated  : 


20 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


We  dwelt,  living  long  luxuriously  in  the  zananas  of  this  spacious  mansion ;  oui 
condition  exempt  from  misfortune  and  adversity.  Rolled  in  through  our  chan- 
nel. 

The  sea,  swelling  against  our  castle  with  angry  surge ;  our  fountains  flowed  with 
murmuring  fall,  above 

The  lofty  palms ;  whose  keepers  planted  dry  dates  in  our  valley  date-grounds ; 
they  sowed  the  arid  rice. 

We  hunted  the  young  mountain-goats  and  the  young  hares,  with  gins  and  snares  ; 
beguiling  we  drew  forth  the  fishes. 

We  walked  with  slow,  proud  gait,  IN  NEEDLE-WORKED,  MANY-COL- 
ORED SILK  VESTMENTS,  IN  WHOLE  SILKS,  IN  GRASS-GREEN 
CHEQUERED  ROBES*! 

Over  us  presided  kings,  far  removed  from  baseness,  and  stern  chastisers  of  repro- 
bate and  wicked  men.  They  noted  down  for  us  according  to  the  doctrine  of 
Heber, 

Good  judgments,  written  in  books  to  be  kept ;  and  we  proclaimed  our  belief  in  mir- 
acles, in  the  resurrection,  in  the  return  into  the  nostrils  of  the  breath  of  life. 

Made  an  inroad  robbers,  and  would  do  us  violence ;  we  rode  forth,  we  and  our 
generous  youth,  with  stiff  and  sharp-pointed  spears ;  rushing  onward. 

Proud  champions  of  our  families  and  wives ;  fighting  valiantly  upon  coursers  with 
long  necks,  dun-colored,  iron-gray,  and  bright  bay. 

With  our  swords  still  wounding  and  piercing  our  adversaries,  until  charging  home, 
we  conquered  and  crushed  this  refuse  of  mankind. 

On  the  subject  of  these  inscriptions,  Mr.  Forster,  in  the  dedi- 
cation of  his  book  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  thus  re- 
marks :  "  What  Job  (who,  living  in  the  opposite  quarter  of 
Arabia,  amid  the  sands  of  the  great  Northern  desert,  had  no 
lasting  material  within  reach  on  which  to  perpetuate  his 
thoughts,)  so  earnestly  desired,  stands  here  realized."  "  Oh 
that  my  wTords  were  now  written  !  Oh  that  they  were  printed 
in  a  Book  !  That  (like  the  kindred  creed  of  the  lost  tribe  of 
Ad)  they  were  graven  with  an  iron  pen,  and  lead,  in  the 
rock  forever.  (For  mine  is  a  better  and  brighter  revelation 
than  theirs.)  For  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that 
he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth ;  and  though, 
after  my  skin,  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  the  flesh  shall  I 
see  God :  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  be- 
hold, and  not  another." 


*  Silk  is  the  only  material  used  for  human  clothing  which  Mohammed,  the  im- 
postor, introduces  among  the  luxuries  of  Paradise.    (See  the  Koran,  chap.  35.) 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


21 


That  the  Arabians  should  have  understood  the  manufacture 
of  silken  textures  at  as  remote  a  period  as  that  supposed  by  Mr. 
Forster,  viz.,  500  years  after  the  flood,  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it, 
exceedingly  questionable,  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  we  are 
indebted  to  them  for  many  useful  inventions,  and  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  the  art  of  making  cotton  paper*.  It  is  no 
less  true  that  we  first  received  our  cotton-wool  from  countries 
where  the  Arabic  language  was  spoken. 

To  the  Arabs  also  we  are  indebted  for  that  almost  indispen- 
sable article  of  apparel,  the  shirt,  the  Arabic  name  for  which  is 
camees,  whence  the  Italian  camiscia,  and  the  French  chemisef. 

In  the  attempt  here  made  to  trace  from  the  dark  ages  of 
antiquity  the  progress  of  trades  and  manufactures  so  widely 
diffused  over  the  civilised  world  as  those  of  cotton,  linen,  silk, 
wool,  (fee,  chronological  order  is  followed  as  closely  as  the 
nature  of  the  inquiry  will  permit. 


*  See  Appendix  B. 

t  For  further  information  on  Arabia,  see  Parts  II.  and  III. 


CHAPTER  II. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SILK  MANUFACTURE  CONTINUED 
TO  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY. 


SPINNING,  DYEING,  AND  WEAVING.  HIGH  DEGREE  OF  EXCELLENCE 

ATTAINED   IN   THESE  ARTS. 

Testimony  of  the  Latin  Poets  of  the  Augustan  age — Tibullus — Propertius — Virgil 
— Horace — Ovid — Dyonisius  Perigetes — Strabo.  Mention  of  silk  by  authors  in 
the  first  century — Seneca  the  Philosopher — Seneca  the  Tragedian — Lucan — 
Pliny — Josephus — Saint  John — Silius  Italicus — Statins — Plutarch — Juvenal — 
Martial — Pausanias — Galen — Clemens  Alexandrinus — Caution  to  Christian 
converts  against  the  use  of  silk  in  dress.  Mention  of  silk  by  authors  in  the 
second  century — Tertullian — Apuleius — Ulpian — Julius  Pollux — Justin.  Men- 
tion of  silk  by  authors  in  the  third  century — iElius  Lampidius — Vopiscus — 
Trebellius  Pollio — Cyprian — Solinus — Ammianus  Marcellinus — Use  of  silk  by 
the  Roman  emperors — Extraordinary  beauty  of  the  textures — Use  of  water  to 
detach  silk  from  the  trees — Invectives  of  these  authors  against  extravagance  in 
dress — The  Seres  described  as  a  happy  people — Their  mode  of  traffic,  etc. — 
(Macpherson's  opinion  of  the  Chinese.) — City  of  Dioscurias,  its  vast  commerce  in 
former  times. — {Colonel  Syke's  account  of  the  Kolissura  silk -worm — Dr.  Rox- 
burgh's description  of  the  Tusseh  silk-worm.) 

The  next  Authors,  who  make  mention  of  silk,  are  the  Latin 
poets  of  the  Augustan  age,  Tibullus  and  Propertius,  Virgil, 
Horace,  and  Ovid.  The  Parthian  war,  and  the  increased  in- 
tercourse between  the  Roman  empire  and  the  kingdoms  of  the 
East,  had  been  the  means  of  recently  introducing  every  kind 
of  silken  goods  into  more  general  use,  although  these  manufac- 
tures were  still  so  rare  as  to  be  the  objects  of  curiosity  and  ad- 
miration, and  were  therefore  well  adapted  to  be  brought  in 
among  the  embellishments  of  poetical  imagery. 

The  appearance  of  the  silken  flags  attached  to  the  gilt 
standards  of  the  Parthians  (Florus  iii.  11.)  must  have  been  a 
very  striking  sight  for  the  army  of  Crassus,  contributing  both 
to  inflame  their  cupidity  and  to  alarm  them  with  a  sense  of  the 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


power  of  their  opponents.  The  conflict  here  referred  to  too 
place  in  the  year  54  B.  C.  In  about  30  years  after  this  date 
the  Roman  empire  obtained  its  greatest  extension.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  Petronius  Arbiter  (c.  119.), 

Th'  insatiate  Roman  spread  his  conquering  arms 
O'er  land  and  sea,  where'er  heaven's  light  extends. 

After  these  words  he  says,  that  among  the  richest  produc- 
tions of  distant  climates  the  Seres  sent  their  "new  fleeces." 
The  remotest  countries  thus  contributed  to  increase  the  luxury 
of  Rome,  and  we  shall  now  see  how  silk,  one  of  the  most  costly 
and  the  most  admired  of  its  recent  acquisitions,  was  used  by  its 
poets  to  represent  the  polish  of  elevated  life  and  to  adorn  their 
language  with  rich  and  beautiful  allusions.  The  webs,  which 
they  mention,  are  either  those  still  obtained  from  Cos,  or  those 
imported  from  the  country  of  the  Seres. 

TIBULLUS. 

A  Coan  vest  for  girls. 

L.  ii.  4. 

She  may  thin  garments  wear,  which  female  Coan  hands 
Have  woven,  and  in  stripes  dispos'd  the  golden  bands. 

L.  ii.  6. 

The  latter  of  these  two  passages  is  remarkable  as  showing 
that  the  Coan  women  practised  the  elegant  art  of  interweaving 
gold  thread  in  their  silken  webs.  The  gold  was  no  doubt  dis- 
played in  transverse  stripes. 

PROPERTIUS. 

Why  thus,  my  life,  display  thy  braided  hair, 

And  heave  beneath  thin  Coan  webs  thy  bosom  fair? 

L.  i.  2. 

In  the  next  passage  Propertius  is  speaking  of  his  own  Poetry, 
and  alludes  to  his  frequent  mention  of  Coan  garments. 

If  bright  she  walk  in  Coan  vest  array'd, 
Through  all  this  book  will  Coan  be  display'd. 

L.  ii.  1. 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OP 


ON  A  STATUE  OF  VERTUMNUS. 

My  nature  suits  each  changing  form  : 
Turn'd  into  what  you  please,  I'm  fair. 
Clothe  me  in  Coan,  I'm  a  decent  lass, 
Put  on  a  toga,  for  a  man  I  pass. 

L.  iv.  2. 

The  texture  of  the  Coan  Minerva. 

L.  iv.  5. 

Who  gives  no  Coan  robe,  but  verse  instead, 
Artless  shall  be  his  lyre,  his  verses  dead. 

Ibid. 

The  same  poet  (L.  iv.  8.  23.)  mentions  "  Serica  carpenta," 
chariots  with  silk  curtains ;  and  the  following  line  (L.  i.  14.  22.) 
shows,  that  couches  with  ornamented  silk  covers  were  then  in 
use: 

Quid  revelant  variis  Serica  textilibus  ? 

Propertius  also  mentions  silk  under  the  name  of  the  animal, 
which  produced  it : 

Shines  with  the  produce  of  th'  Arabian  worm. 

L.  ii.  3. 15. 

In  this  line,  as  well  as  in  some  of  those  before  quoted,  he  al- 
ludes to  the  use  of  silk  by  females  of  indifferent  character.  He 
probably  uses  the  epithet  Arabian^  because  the  Roman  mer- 
chants obtained  silk  from  the  Arabs,  who  received  it  from 
Persia. 

VIRGIL. 

Soft  wool  from  downy  groves  the  JEthiop  weaves, 
And  Seres  comb  their  fleece  from  silken  leaves. 

Georg.  ii.  120,  121.— Sotheby's  Translation. 

The  poet  is  here  enumerating  the  chief  productions  of  dif- 
ferent countries,  and  therefore  mentions  cotton  and  silk.  The 
idea,  that  silk  webs  were  manufactured  from  thin  fleeces  ob- 
tained from  trees,  will  be  found  recurring  in  many  of  the  sub- 
sequent citations.  It  may  have  been  founded  on  reports  brought 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


25 


by  the  soldiers  of  Crassus,  or  by  others  who  visited  the  interior 
of  Asia  about  the  same  period. 

HORACE. 

Nor  Coan  purples,  nor  the  blaze 
Of  jewels  can  bring  back  the  days, 
Which,  fix'd  by  time,  recorded  stand, 
By  all,  who  read  the  Fasti,  scann'd. 

Od.  I.  iv.  13.  (ad  Lycen.)  13-16. 

As  if  uncloth'd,  she  stands  confess'd 
In  a  translucent  Coan  vest. 

Sat.  i.  2.  101. 

These  passages  allude  to  the  fineness  and  transparency  of 
silken  webs,  which  in  the  time  of  Horace  were  worn  at  Rome 
only  by  prostitutes,  or  by  those  women  who  aimed  at  being  as 
attractive  and  luxurious  as  possible  in  their  attire. 

The  former  passage  shows,  that  the  silks  manufactured  in 
Cos  were  dyed  with  the  murex,  "  Cose  purpura." 

The  expression  "Sericos  pulvillos"  (Epod.  8.  15.)  has  been 
supposed  to  denote  small  cushions  covered  with  silk.  But  the 
epithet  "  Sericos"  implies  nothing  more  than  that  they  were  ob- 
tained from  the  Seres,  who  supplied  the  Romans  with  skins  as 
well  as  silk*;  and  leather  seems  to  have  been  a  more  proper 
substance  than  silk  for  making  cushions. 

OVID. 

Sive  erit  in  Tyriis,  Tyrios  laudabis  amictus, 

Sive  erit  in  Cois,  Coa  decere  puta. 
Aurata  est :  ipso  tibi  sit  pretiosior  auro ; 

Gausapa  si  slimsit,  gausapa  sumta  proba. 

Ars  Amat.  ii.  297-300. 

Whatever  clothing  she  displays, 
From  Tyre  or  Cos,  that  clothing  praise  : 
If  gold  shows  forth  the  artist's  skill, 
Call  her  than  gold  more  precious  still : 
Or  if  she  choose  a  coasre  attire, 
E'en  coarseness,  worn  by  her,  admire. 


*  Plin.  xxxiv.  cap.  24. 

4 


26 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


In  another  passage  (Amores  i.  14.  5.)  Ovid  compares  the 
thin  hairs  of  a  lady  to  the  silken  veils  of  the  Seres, 

Veils  such  as  color'd  Seres  wear. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  testimonies  of  authors  who  wrote 
either  in  Greek  or  Latin  at  the  latter  part  of  the  Augustan  age, 
or  immediately  after  it. 

DYONISIUS  PERIEGETES. 

Kat  idvea  fidpfiapa  Hqpcov, 
OItc  fioas  fxev  dvaivovrai  na\  i(pca  ^rjAa, 
AtdAa  6i  ^aivovTEs  sprigs  audea  yat'q?, 
Ei/*ara  rev^ovatv  7ro\vofaiSa'\a,  npr\zvTa, 
EfJo/zcva  XP0lV  ^£tf ^viSog  dvOeoi  Troirji' 
JSLeivuis  ovti  k£v  epyov  dpa^ydwv  tpiosisv.     (I.  755.) 

And  the  barbarous  nations  of  the  Seres,  who  renounce  the  care  of  sheep  and 
oxen,  but  comb  the  variously  colored  flowers  of  the  desert  land  to  make  precious 
figured  garments,  resembling  in  color  the  flowers  of  the  meadow,  and  rivalling 
(in  fineness)  the  work  of  spiders. — Yates's  Translation. 

It  is  worthy  of  observation  that  Dyonisius  speaks  expressly 
not  only  of  the  fineness  of  the  thread,  but  of  the  flowered  tex- 
ture of  the  silk. 

STRABO. 

Toiavra  Si  Kal  ra  Sryjoua,  s/c  ti  vcov  (J)\oicjv  %aivo[A£vri$  fivocov. 

L.  xv.  695.  (v.  vi.  p.  40.  Tzschucke.) 

This  is  repeated  by  Eustathius  on  Dyonisius  Periegetes*. 
The  account  seems  to  have  been  taken  by  Strabo,  perhaps  in- 
accurately, from  Nearchus.  It  is  doubtful,  whether  E^i™  de- 
noted silken  webs  in  this  passage.  But  whatever  Strabo  meant, 
he  supposed  the  raw  material  to  be  scraped  from  the  bark  of 
treest. 

As  contemporary  with  the  authors  last  quoted,  Dyonisius  and 
Strabo,  we  may  here  mention  the  law  passed  by  the  Roman 
Senate  early  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  "  Ne  vestis  Serica  viros 
foedaret."    Taciti  Annates,  ii.  33.    Dion.  Cass.  L  57.  p.  860. 


*  L.  1107.  p.  308,  Bernhardy. 


t  Book  ii.  ch.  3.  p.  307. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


27 


Reim.  tSuidas  in  v.  Ttpspms*.  Silk  was  to  be  worn  by  women 
only. 

The  next  emperor  Caligula  had  silk  curtains  to  his  throne 
[Dion.  Cass.  I.  59.  p.  915.  Reim.),  and  he  wore  silk  as  part  of 
his  dress,  when  he  appeared  in  public.  Uio  Cassius  particularly 
mentions,  that,  when  he  was  celebrating  a  kind  of  triumph  at 
Puteoli,  he  put  on  what  he  alleged  to  be  the  thorax  of  Alex- 
ander, and  over  that  a  silken  chlamys,  dyed  with  the  murex, 
and  adorned  with  gold  and  precious  stones.  On  the  following 
day  he  wore  a  tunic  interwoven  with  goldf.  The  use  of 
shawls  and  tunics  of  silk  was,  however,  except  in  the  case 
of  the  extravagances  of  a  Caligula,  still  confined  to  the  fe- 
male sex.  Under  the  earlier  emperors  it  is  probable,  that  silk 
was  obtained  in  considerable  quantities  for  the  wardrobe  of  the 
empress,  where  it  was  preserved  from  one  reign  to  another,  until 
in  the  year  176  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  the  philosopher,  in 
consequence  of  the  exhausted  state  of  his  treasury,  sold  by  pub- 
lic auction  in  the  Forum  of  Trajan  the  imperial  ornaments  and 
jewels  together  with  the  golden  and  silken  robes  of  the  Em- 
press}. 

FIRST  CENTURY. 

SENECA,  THE  PHILOSOPHER. 

Posse  nos  vestitos  esse  sine  commercio  Serum. — Epist.  91. 

We  may  clothe  ourselves  without  any  commerce  with  the  Seres. 

Video  Sericas  vestes,  si  vestes  vocandae  sunt,  in  quibus  nihil  est,  quo  defendi  aut 
corpus  aut  denique  pudor  possit :  quibus  sumtis  mulier  parum  liquid6  nudam  se 
non  esse  jurabit.  Haec  ingenti  summa  ab  ignotis  etiam  ad  commercium  gentibus 
accersunter,  ut  matronae  nostras  ne  adulteris  quidem  plus  sui  in  cubiculo  quam  in 
publico  ostendant. — De  Beneficiis,  L.  vii.  c.  9. 

I  see  silken  (Seric)  garments,  if  they  can  be  called  garments,  which  cannot 
afford  any  protection  either  for  the  body  or  for  shame :  on  taking  which  a  woman 
will  scarce  with  a  clear  conscience  deny,  that  she  is  naked.    These  are  sent  for 


*  Dio  Cassius  (1.  43.  p.  358.  Rheim.)  mentions  as  a  report,  that  Julius  Caesar 
employed  silk  curtains  (irdpairerdaiAara  Uripixa)  to  add  to  the  splendor  of  his  triumph. 

t  In  describing  the  effeminate  dress  of  the  emperor  Caligula,  Suetonius  tells  us 
(cap.  52),  that  he  often  went  into  public,  wearing  bracelets  and  long  sleeves,  and 
sometimes  in  a  garment  of  silk  and  a  cyclas. 

t  Jul.  Capitol,  c.  xvii.  p.  65.  Bip. 


28 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OP 


at  an  enormous  price  from  nations,  to  which  our  commerce  has  not  yet  extended, 
in  order  that  our  matrons  may  display  their  persons  to  the  public  no  less  than  to 
adulterers  in  their  chamber  ! — Yates's  Translation. 

The  Seres  must  be  supposed  to  have  dwelt  somewhere  in  the 
centre  of  Asia.  Perhaps  those  geographers  who  represent  Lit- 
tle Bucharia  as  their  country*,  are  nearest  the  truth,  and  thus 
far  neither  Greeks  nor  Romans  had  penetrated.  Silk  was 
brought  to  them  "  from  nations,  to  which  even  their  commerce 
had  not  yet  extended."  Hence  their  inaccurate  ideas  respecting 
its  originf. 

SENECA,  THE  TRAGEDIAN. 

Nec  Moeonia  distinguit  acu, 
Quae  Phoebeis  subditus  Euris 
Legit  Eois  Ser  arboribus. 

Here.  (E tarns,  664. 
Nor  with  Moeonian  needle  marks  the  web, 
Gather'd  by  Eastern  Seres  from  the  trees. 

Seres,  illustrious  for  their  fleece. 

Thyestes,  378. 
Remove,  ye  maids,  the  vests,  whose  tissue  glares 
With  purple  and  with  gold ;  far  be  the  red 
Of  Tyrian  murex,  and  the  shining  thread, 
Which  furthest  Seres  gather  from  the  boughs. 

Hyppolitus,  386.  (Phcedra  loquitur.) 

At  a  very  early  period  the  art  of  dyeing  had  been  carried  to 
a  very  great  degree  of  perfection  in  Phoenicia.  The  method 
of  dyeing  woollen  cloths  purple  was,  it  is  said,  first  discovered  at 
Tyre.  This  color,  the  most  celebrated  among  the  ancients, 
appears  to  have  been  brought  to  a  degree  of  excellence,  of 
which  we  can  form  but  a  very  faint  idea : 


*  The  position  of  Serica  is  discussed  by  Latreille  in  his  paper  hereafter  cited. 
See  also  Mannert.  iv.  6.  6,  7.  Brotier,  Mem.  de  l'Acad.  des  Inscrip.  torn.  46. 
John  Reinhold  Forster  (De  Bysso,  p.  20,  21.)  thinks  that  Little  Bucharia  was 
certainly  the  ancient  Serica.  Sir  John  Barrow  ( Travels  in  China,  p.  435-438.) 
thinks  the  Seres  were  not  the  Chinese. 

t  The  first  author  who  speaks  of  the  Seres  as  a  distinct  nation,  is  Mela,  iii.  7. 
He  describes  them  as  a  very  honest  people,  who  brought  what  they  had  to  sell, 
laid  it  down  and  went  away,  and  then  returned  for  the  price  of  it.  The  same 
account  is  given  by  Eustathius,  on  Dyonisius,  1.  752.  p.  242,  Bernhardy. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


"  In  oldest  times,  when  kings  and  hardy  chiefs 
In  bleating  sheep-folds  met,  for  purest  wool 
Phoenicia's  hilly  tracts  were  most  renown'd, 
And  fertile  Syria's  and  Judaea's  land, 
Hermon,  and  Seir,  and  Hebron's  brooky  sides, 
Twice  with  the  murex,  crimson  hue,  they  ting'd 
The  shining  fleeces — hence  their  gorgeous  wealth ; 
And  hence  arose  the  walls  of  ancient  Tyre*." 

LUCAN. 

Candida  Sidonio  perlucent  pectora  filo, 
Quod  Nilotis  acus  percussum  pectine  Serum 
Solvit,  et  extenso  laxavit  stamina  velo. 

L.  x.  141. 

Her  snowy  breast  shines  through  Sidonian  threads, 
First  by  the  comb  of  distant  Seres  struck, 
Divided  then  by  Egypt's  skilful  toil, 
And  with  embroidery  transparent  made. 

The  poet  is  describing  the  dress  of  Cleopatra.  He  supposes 
her  to  have  worn  over  her  breast  a  piece  of  silk,  woven  by  the 
Seres,  imported  through  Siclon  into  Egypt,  and  then  embroider- 
ed. By  the  last  process,  in  which  the  Egyptians  greatly  excell- 
ed, the  threads  were  in  part  separated,  so  as  to  exhibit  the  ap- 
pearance of  lace,  and  to  allow  the  white  breast  of  the  queen  to 
be  visible  through  the  texture. 

Amidst  the  braidings  of  her  flowing  hair, 

The  spoils  of  orient  rocks  and  shells  appear : 

Like  midnight  stars,  ten  thousand  diamonds  deck 

The  comely  rising  of  her  graceful  neck ; 

Of  wondrous  work,  a  thin  transparent  lawn 

O'er  each  soft  breast  in  decency  was  drawn, 

Where  still  by  turns  the  parting  threads  withdrew, 

And  all  the  panting  bosom  rose  to  view. 

Her  robe,  her  every  part,  her  air  confess 

The  power  of  female  skill  exhausted  in  her  dress. 

Pharsalia,  x. 

In  glowing  purple  rich  the  coverings  lie, 
Twice  had  they  drunk  the  noblest  Tyrian  dye 
Others,  as  Pharian  artists  have  the  skill 
To  mix  the  party-color'd  web  at  will, 


*  Old  Tyre  was  besieged  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  second  year  after  tho 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  or  584  B.  C. 


30 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


With  winding  trails  of  various  silks  were  made, 
Whose  branching  gold  set  off  the  rich  brocade. 

Ibid. 

With  this  description  we  compare  that  of  Seneca,  which  rep- 
resents silk  as  embroidered  in  Asia  Minor,  with  the  "  Maeonian 
needle." 

PLINY 

speaks  copiously  and  repeatedly  of  the  manufacture  of  silk. 
Nevertheless  we  learn  from  him  scarce  anything,  which  we  did 
not  know  from  the  earlier  authorities.  His  accounts  are  taken 
from  Aristotle,  from  Varro,  and  probably  also  from  persons  who 
accompanied  the  Parthian  expeditions,  or  who  engaged  in  the 
trade  with  inner  Asia.  But  according  to  his  usual  manner, 
when  he  speaks  of  what  he  has  not  himself  seen,  he  confounds 
accounts  from  different  witnesses,  which  are  inconsistent  with 
one  another.  He  asserts  that  the  bom  by  x  was  a  native  of  Cos  ; 
but  it  is  not  probable  that  the  women  of  that  island  would,  in 
such  case,  have  recourse  to  the  laborious  operation  of  convert- 
ing foreign  finished  goods  into  threads  for  their  own  weaving. 
It  is,  therefore,  only  reasonable  to  suppose^  that  whatever  man- 
ufacture was  carried  on  from  the  raw  material,  was,  like  that 
of  Tyre  or  Berytus,  composed  of  unwrought  silk  imported  from 
the  East.  It  is  mentioned  both  by  Theophanes  and  Zonares, 
the  Byzantine  historians,  that  before  silk-worms  were  brought  to 
Constantinople  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  no  person  in 
that  capital  knew  that  silk  was  produced  by  a  worm ;  a  toler- 
ably strong  evidence  that  none  were  reared  so  near  to  Constan- 
tinople as  Cos. 

Pliny's  account  of  the  Coan  bombyx  is  evidently  a  cloud  of 
fable  and  absurdity,  in  which,  however,  we  may  discern  a  few 
lines  of  truth,  probably  derived  from  the  accounts  of  the  silk- 
worm of  the  Seres. 

JOSEPHUS 

says,  that  the  emperors  Titus  and  Vespasian  wore  silk  dresses*, 
when  they  celebrated  at  Rome  their  triumph  over  the  Jew^s. 


*  De  Bello  Jud.  vii.  5.  4. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


31 


SAINT  JOHN. 

Silk  faputdv)  occurs  but  once  in  the  New  Testament,  Rev. 
xviii.  12.  It  is  here  mentioned  in  a  curious  enumeration  of  all 
the  most  valuable  articles  of  foreign  traffic. 


SILIUS  ITALICUS. 

Seres  lanigeris  repetebant  vellera  lucis.    Punica.  vi.  4. 
Seres  took  fleeces  from  the  woolly  groves. 

Munera  rubri 
Praeterea  Ponti,  depexaque  vellera  ramis, 
Femineus  labor.    Ib.  xiv.  664. 
The  produce  of  the  Erythrnean  seas, 
And  fleeces  comb'd  by  women  from  the  trees*. 

Videre  Eoi  (monstrum  admirabile  !)  Seres 
Lanigeros  cinere  Ausonio  canescere  lucos. 

Ib.  xvii.  595,  596. 
The  Seres'  woolly  groves,  O  wondrous  sight ! 
In  the  far  East,  were  with  Italian  ashes  white. 

In  the  last  passage  Silius  is  describing  the  effects  of  the  re- 
cent eruption  of  Mount  Vesuvius,  A.  D.  79.  That  its  ashes 
should  reach  the  country  of  the  Seres,  whether  it  was  in  Persia 
or  China,  would  indeed  have  been  "  Monstrum  admirabile  !" 

STATIUS. 

Seric  (i.  e.  silken)  palls. 

Sylvce,  ui.  4.  89. 

PLUTARCH 

dissuades  the  virtuous  and  prudent  wife  from  wearing  silkf . 
He  mentions,  that  webs  of  silk  and  fine  linen  were  at  the  same 
time  thin  and  compact  or  closet 


*  See  latter  part  of  Chapter  viii.  Part  First. 

t  Conjugailia  Praecepta,  torn.  vi.  p.  550.  ed.  Reiske. 

t  De  Pythia?  Orac.  c.  iv.  p.  557.  Reiske. 


32  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


JUVENAL 

speaks  of  women, 

Quarum 

Delicias  et  panniculus  bombycinus  urit.    Sat.  vi.  259. 
Whose  beauty  e'en  a  silken  veil  o'erheats. 

MARTIAL. 

Nec  vaga  tarn  tenui  discursat  aranea  tela, 

Tarn  levo  nec  bombyx  pendulus  urget  opus.    L.  viii.  33 
The  spider  traces  not  so  thin  a  line, 
Nor  does  the  pendent  silk-worm  spin  so  fine. 

Fcemineum  lucet  sic  per  borabycina  corpus, 

Calculus  in  nitida  sic  numeratur  aqua.   L.  viii.  68. 
Thus  through  her  silk  a  lady's  body  looks, 
Thus  count  we  pebbles  in  the  sparkling  brooks. 

De  Pallatinis  dominae  quod  Serica  prelis. 

L.  xi.  9. 

Here  Martial  alludes  to  the  employment  of  presses  (prela)  lor 
preserving  the  garments  of  silk  and  other  precious  materials, 
belonging  to  the  Empress,  in  the  same  way,  in  which  we  now 
use  presses  to  keep  table-linen.    He  says  to  a  lady  (L.  ix.  38.). 

Nec  dentes  aliter,  quam  Serica,  nocte  reponas. 
Your  teeth  at  night,  like  silks,  you  lay  aside. 

In  another  passage  (L.  xi.  27.)  he  speaks  of  silken  goods 
(Serica)  as  procurable  in  the  Vicus  Tuscus  at  Rome  :  and 
lastly  in  L.  xiv.  Ep.  24,  he  mentions  ribbons  or  fillets  of  silk  as 
used  for  adorning  the  hair. 

Tenui  a  ne  madidi  violent  bombycina  crines, 

Figat  acus  tortas,  sustineatque  comas. 
Lest  your  moist  hair  defile  the  ribbons  thin, 
Twist  it  in  knots,  and  fix  it  with  a  pin. 

PAUSANIAS, 

a  native  of  Asia  Minor,  and  an  inquisitive  traveller  in  the 
second  century,  gives  the  following  distinct  account  of  Sericum 
according  to  the  ideas  received  among  the  Greeks  in  his  time. 

The  threads  from  which  the  Seres  make  webs,  are  not  the  produce  of  bark,  but 
are  obtained  in  the  following  manner.    There  is  an  animal  in  that  country,  which 


SILK  BY   THE  ANCIENTS. 


33 


the  Greeks  call  Se r,  but  which  they  call  by  some  other  name.  Its  size  is  twice 
that  of  the  largest  beetle.  In  other  respects  it  resembles  the  spiders,  which  weave 
under  the  trees.  It  has  also  the  same  number  of  feet  as  the  spider,  namely, 
eight*.  In  order  to  breed  these  creatures,  the  Seres  have  houses  adapted  both  for 
summer  and  winter.  The  produce  of  the  animal  is  a  fine  thread  twisted  about  its 
legs.  The  Seres  feed  it  four  years  on  "  panicum."  In  the  fifth  year  they  give  it 
green  reed,  of  which  it  is  so  fond  as  to  eat  of  it  until  it  bursts,  and  after  this  the 
greatest  part  of  the  thread  is  found  within  its  bodyt. 

The  most  interesting  circumstance;  mentioned  by  Pausanias, 
is  the  breeding  of  the  silk-worms  within  doors  in  houses  adapt- 
ed both  for  summer  and  winter.  There  seems  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  truth  of  this  fact ;  and,  if  admitted,  it  proves,  that 
their  country,  the  Serica  of  the  ancients,  lay  so  far  North,  or 
was  so  elevated,  as  to  have  a  great  difference  of  temperature  in 
summer  and  in  winter.  It  is  remarkable,  that  in  China  the 
worms  are  now  reared  in  small  houses,  and  this  practice  has 
long  prevailed  in  that  country*. 

GALEN 

recommends  silk  thread  for  tying  blood-vessels  in  surgical  opera 
iions,  observing  that  the  opulent  women  in  many  parts  of  the 
Roman  empire  possessed  such  thread,  especially  in  the  great 
cities  §.  He  also  mentions  cloths  of  silk  and  gold  in  his  treatise, 
c.  9.  (Hippocratis  et  Galeni  Opp.  ed.  Chartier,  torn.  vi.  p. 
533.) : 

"  Of  this  kind  are  the  shawls  interwoven  with  gold,  the  materials  of  which  are 
brought  from  afar,  and  which  are  called  Seric  or  silk." 

CLEMENS  ALEXANDRINUS, 

dissuading  the  Christian  convert  from  luxury  in  dress,  thus 
speaks : 

Ei  rle  crvfXTTEpKbepeaOai  X9^t  o^iyov  IvSoteov  avraig  [Aa\aKOJT(poig  ^prjcQai  tois  vipuL7[.iaaiv' 

*  This  does  not  apply  to  the  silk-worm,  which  has  sixteen  legs,  in  pairs :  six 
proper  legs  before,  and  ten  holders  behind.    (See  Figure  1,  Plate  iii.) 
t  L.  vi.  26.  p.  125.  ed.  Siebel. 

t  Barrow's  Travels  in  China,  p.  437,  &c.  Resume  des  Traites  Chinois,  &c. 
traduit  par  Julien,  p.  70-72.  77-80.  The  practice  is  here  shown  to  have  pre- 
vailed as  early  as  the  fifth  century  B.  C. 

§  Methodus  Medendi,  1.  xiii.  c.  22. 

5 


34  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


jxopov  rag  ptii()ipr}pivas  \£KTOvpyias,  xal  Tag  IvratsvcpaTsTrepupyovsnXoKas  ckttoS&v  {xsQiaravTa? 
prjfxa  xpvcrov,  /cat  urjpas  'IvSikovs,  kcu  rovg  irepupyovs  Pdjx/3vKag  ^aipeiv  IwvraSj  os  GKU>\ri£ 
(pverai  rd  irpojrov'  eira  e|  avrov  SaaeTa  dvatyaiverai  Kd[XTrr].  ^£0'  r\v  eig  rpirriv  fxera/Jidp^ojcnv 
veoxjxovTai  PofjfivXiov'  ol  Si  v£kvSol\ov  avro  kclXovgiv'  e|  ov  fxaKpog  tiktstoll  cnfyicoi/j 
KaBdizep  Ik  rf}$  dpd%vx)S  b  rrjs  dpd%vr)S  prof. — JPcsdag.  ii.  10. 

But,  if  it  is  necessary  to  accommodate  ourselves  to  the  women,  let  us  concede  to 
them  the  use  of  cloths,  which  are  a  little  softer,  only  refusing  that  degree  of  fine- 
ness, which  would  imply  folly,  and  such  webs  as  are  excessively  labored  and  in- 
tricate  ;  bidding  farewell  to  gold  thread,  and  to  the  Indian  Seres,  and  that  indus- 
trious bombyx,  which  is  first  a  worm,  then  puts  on  the  appearance  of  a  hairy  cat- 
erpillar, and  hence  passes,  in  the  third  place,  into  a  Bombylius,  or,  as  some  call 
it,  a  Necydalus ;  and  out  of  which  is  produced  a  long  thread,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  thread  of  the  spider. — Yates's  Translation. 

The  use  of  the  epithet  "  Indian"  in  this  passage  may  be  ac- 
counted for  from  the  circumstance,  that  in  the  time  of  the 
writer  silken  goods  were  brought  to  Alexandria  and  other  cities 
of  Egypt  from  India.  Clemens  has  evidently  borrowed  this 
description  from  Aristotle. 

SECOND  CENTURY. 

TERTULLIAN. 

thus  describes  the  Bombyx  : 

Vermiculi  genus  est,  qui  per  aerem  liquando  aranearum  horoscopis  idoneas 
sedes  tendit,  dehinc  devorat,  mox  alvo  reddere  ;  proinde  si  necaveris,  animata  jam 
stamina  volves. 

It  is  a  kind  of  worm,  which  extends  abodes  like  the  dials  of  spiders  by  float- 
ing them  through  the  air.  It  then  devours  them  so  as  to  restore  them  to  its  stom- 
ach.   Therefore,  if  you  kill  it,  you  will  roll  living  threads.    (See  chap,  ix.) 

In  the  same  treatise  [De  Pallio,  c.  4.)  we  find  the  following 
notice : 

Such  as  Hercules  was  in  the  silk  of  Omphale. , 

Soon  after,  the  same  author,  speaking  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  says, 

Vicerat  Medicam  gentem,  et  victus  est  Medica  veste :-  pectus  squamarum 

signaculis  disculptum,  textu  pellucido  tegendo,  nudavit:  et  anhelum  adhuc  ab 
opere  belli,  ut  mollius,  ventilante  serico  extinxit.  Non  erat  satis  animi  tumens 
Macedo,  ni  ilium  etiam  vestis  inflatior  delectasset. 

He  had  conquered  the  Medes,  and  was  conquered  by  a  Median  garment. 
When  his  breast  exhibited  the  sculptured  resemblances  of  scales,  he  covered  it 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


35 


with  a  pellucid  texture,  which  rather  laid  it  bare  ;  panting  from  the  work  of  war, 
he  cooled  and  mollified  it  by  the  use  of  silk,  exposing  it  to  the  wind.  It  was  not 
sufficient  for  the  Macedonian  to  have  a  tumid  mind ;  he  required  to  be  delighted 
also  with  an  inflated  garment. 

He  afterwards  says  of  a  philosopher. 

He  went  wearing  a  garment  of  silk,  and  sandals  of  brass. 

Again  he  says  of  a  low  character,  "  She  exposes  her  silk  to 
the  tvind" 

In  his  treatise  on  Female  A*tire  he  mentions  silk  in  relation 
to  Milesian  wool,  and  he  concludes  that  treatise  in  the  following 
terms : 

Manus  lanis  occupate,  ped^  domi  figite,  et  plus  quam  in  auro  placebitis.  Ves- 
tite  vos  serico  probitatis,  b^sino  sanctitatis,  purpura  pudicitiae. 

Employ  your  hands  ^ith  wool ;  keep  your  feet  at  home.  Thus  will  you  please 
more  than  if  you  we*  in  gold.  Clothe  yourselves  with  the  silk  of  probity,  with 
the  fine  linen  of  sanctity,  and  with  the  purple  of  modesty. 

Lastly,  tfcis  author  says  {Adv.  Marcionem,  I.  i.  p.  372.), 

Imitare,  si  potes,  apis  oedificia,  formica?  stabula,  aranei  retia,  bombycis  stamina. 
Imitate  if  thou  canst,  the  constructions  of  the  bee,  the  retreats  of  the  ant,  the 
nets  of  the  spider,  the  threads  of  the  silk -worm. 

APULEIUS. 

Prodeunt,  mitellis,  et  crocotis,  et  carbasinis,  et  bombycinis  injecti.  *  *  *  Deam- 
que,  serico  contectam  amiculo,  mihi  gerendam  imponunt.  Metamorphoseon,  L. 
viii.  p.  579,  580.  ed.  Oudendorpii. 

They  came  forward,  wearing  ribbons,  and  cloths  of  a  saffron  color,  of  cotton, 
and  of  silk,  loosely  thrown  over  them.  *  *  *  And  they  place  on  me  the  Goddess 
covered  with  a  small  silken  scarf,  to  be  carried  by  me. 

Hie  incinctus  baltheo  militem  gerebat ;  ilium  succinctum  chlamyde,  copides  et 
venabula  venatorem  fecerant ;  alius  soccis  obauratis,  indutus  serica  veste,  mun- 
doque  pretioso,  et  adtextis  capite  crinibus,  incessu  perfluo  feminam  mentiebatur. 
Ibid.  I  xi.  p.  769. 

One  performed  the  part  of  a  soldier,  girt  with  a  sword ;  another  had  his  chla- 
mys  tucked  up  by  a  belt,  and  carried  scimitars  and  hunting-poles,  as  if  engaged 
in  the  chace  ;  another,  wearing  gilt  slippers,  a  silken  tunic,  precious  ornaments, 
and  artificial  hair,  by  his  flowing  attire  represented  a  woman. 

ULPIAN. 

Vossius,  in  his  Etymologicum  Linguce  Latince,  in  the 
learned  and  copious  article  Sericum,  says,  "  Inter  sericum  et 


36 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


bombycinam  discrimen  ponit  Ulpianus,  1.  xxiii.  de  aur.  arg. 
leg,  '  Vestimentorum  sunt  omnia  lanea,  lineaque,  vel  serica, 
vel  bombycina.'  " 

JULIUS  POLLUX. 

The  Bombyces  are  worms,  which  emit  from  themselves  threads,  like  the  spider. 
Some  say,  that  the  Seres  collect  their  webs  from  animals  of  this  kind.  L.  vii.  76. 
p.  741. — Kuhn 

JUSTIN 

evidently  refers  to  the  use  of  silken  garments  in  his  account  of 
the  customs  of  the  Parthians,  where  he  says. 

They  formerly  dressed  after  their  own  fashion,  \fter  they  became  rich,  they 
adopted  the  pellucid  and  flowing  garments  of  the  Me6oS.    L.  xli.  c.  2. 

All  doubt,  whether  the  transparent  garments,  mentioned  by 
Justin,  were  of  silk,  must  be  removed  by  the  authority  of  Pro- 
copius,  from  whom  we  shall  hereafter  cite  ample  toad  important 
testimony  in  reference  to  the  time  when  he  lived,  and  who  in 
the  two  following  passages  expressly  states,  that  the  webs, 
called  by  the  Greeks  in  his  time  Seric,  were  more  anciently  de- 
nominated Median. 

Among  the  valuable  and  curious  effects  of  the  emptor 
Commodus,  which  after  his  death  (A.  D.  192.)  were  sold  by  his 
successor  Pertinax,  was  a  garment  with  a  woof  of  silk,  of  a 
bright  yellow  color,  the  appearance  of  which  was  more  beau- 
tiful than  if  the  material  had  been  interwoven  with  threads  of 
gold*. 

THIRD  CENTURY. 

The  authorities  now  quoted  supply  evidence  respecting  the 
use  of  silk  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  down  to  the  end  of 
the  second  century.  It  is  rarely  mentioned  by  any  writer  be- 
longing to  the  following  centuryt ;  so  far  as  we  have  discovered, 


*  Vestis  subtegmine  serico,  aureis  fills  insignior. — Jul.  Capitolini  Pertinax,  c.  8. 
in  Scrip.  Hist.  August®. 

t  Mannert  (Geogr.  iv.  6.  7.  p.  517.)  attributes  the  excessive  dearness  of  silk  in 
the  third  century  to  the  victories  of  the  Persians,  which  at  that  time  cut  off  all 
direct  communication  between  Serica  and  the  western  world. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


37 


only  by  the  three  historians  now  to  be  quoted,  by  Cyprian,  and 
by  Solirms.  But  we  have  from  these  historians  some  remark- 
able accounts  of  the  regard  paid  to  it  by  the  emperors  Heliogab- 
alus,  Alexander  Severus,  Aurelian,  Claudius  II.,  Tacitus,  and 
Carinus,  all  of  whom  reigned  in  the  third  century. 

Julius  Lampridius  says  (c.  26.),  that  the  profligate  and 
effeminate  emperor  Heliogabalus  was  the  first  Roman,  who 
wore  cloth  made  wholly  of  silk,  the  silk  having  been  formerly 
combined  with  other  less  valuable  materials,  and,  in  consequence 
of  his  example,  the  custom  of  wearing  silk  soon  became  gen- 
eral among  the  wealthy  citizens  of  Rome.  He  mentions  (c.  33) 
among  the  innumerable  extravagances  of  this  emperor,  that 
he  had  prepared  a  silken  rope  of  purple  and  scarlet  colors  to 
hang  himself  with. 

Of  the  emperor  Alexander  Severus  he  says  (c.  40),  that  he 
himself  had  few  garments  of  silk,  that  he  never  wore  a  tunic 
made  wholly  of  silk,  and  that  he  never  gave  away  cloth  made 
of  silk  mixed  with  less  valuable  materials. 

The  following  is  the  testimony  of  Flavius  Vopiscus  in  his  life 
of  the  emperor  Aurelian. 

Aurelian  neither  had  himself  in  his  wardrobe  a  garment  wholly  of  silk,  nor 
gave  one  to  be  worn  by  another.  When  his  own  wife  begged  him  to  allow  her  to 
have  a  single  shawi  of  purple  silk,  he  replied,  Far  be  it  from  us  to  permit  thread 
to  be  reckoned  worth  its  weight  in  gold.  For  a  pound  of  gold  was  then  the  price 
of  a  pound  of  silk.    c.  45. 

Although  the  above  mentioned  restrictions  in  the  use  of  silk 
may  be  partly  accounted  for  from  the  usual  severity  of  Aure- 
lian's  character,  yet  the  facts  here  stated  abundantly  show  the 
rarity  and  high  value  of  this  material  in  that  age. 

Flavius  Vopiscus  further  states,  that  the  emperor  Tacitus  made 
it  unlawful  for  men  to  wear  silk  unmixed  with  cheaper  mate- 
rials. Carinus,  on  the  other  hand,  made  presents  of  silken 
garments,  as  well  as  of  gold  and  silver,  to  Greek  artificers,  and 
to  wrestlers,  players,  and  musicians. 

Trebellius  Pollio,  in  his  life  of  Claudius  II.  (c.  14  and 
17.),  twice  mentions  white  garments  of  silk  mixed  with  cheaper 
materials,  which  were  destined  for  that  emperor. 


38 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


CYPRIAN, 

Bishop  of  Carthage  in  the  third  century,  inveighs  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  against  the  use  of  silk : 

Tu  licet  indumenta  peregrina  et  vestes  serieas  induas,  nuda  es.  Auro  te  licet  et 
margaritis  gemmisque  condecores,  sine  Christi  decore  deformis  es.  De  Lapsis,  p. 
135.  ed.  Fell 

Although  thou  shouldest  put  on  a  tunic  of  foreign  silk,  thou  art  naked ;  al- 
though thou  shouldest  beautify  thyself  with  gold,  and  pearls,  and  gems,  without 
the  beauty  of  Christ  thou  art  unadorned. 

Also  in  his  treatise  on  the  dress  of  Virgins  he  says, 

Sericum  et  purpuram  indutae,  Christum  induere  non  possunt :  auro  et  margari- 
tis et  monilibus  adornatce,  ornamenta  cordis  et  pectoris  perdiderunt. 

Those  who  put  on  silk  and  purple,  cannot  put  on  Christ :  women,  adorned  with 
gold  and  pearls  and  necklaces,  have  lost  the  ornaments  of  the  heart  and  of  the 
breast. 

In  the  same  place  he  gives  us  a  translation  of  the  well- 
known  passage  of  Isaiah  enumerating  the  luxuries  of  female 
attire  among  the  Jews  :  "  In  that  day  the  Lord  will  take  away 
the  bravery  of  their  tinkling  ornaments  about  their  feet,  and 
their  cauls,  and  their  round  tires  like  the  moon,  the  chains, 
and  the  bracelets,  and  the  mufflers,  the  bonnets,  and  the 
ornaments  of  the  legs,  and  the  head-bands,  and  the  tablets, 
and  the  ear-rings,  the  rings,  and  nose-jewels,  the  changeable 
suits  of  apparel,  and  the  mantles,  and  the  wimples,  and  the 
crisping  pins,  the  glasses,  and  the  fine  linen,  and  the  hoods, 
and  the  veils."    Isaiah  iii.  18-23. 

SOLINUS, 

Primos  hominum  Seres  cognoscimus,  qui,  aquarum  aspergine  inundatis  frondi- 
bus,  vellera  arborum  adminiculo  depectunt  liquoris,  et  lanuginis  teneram  subtilita- 
tem  humore  domant  ad  obsequium.  Hoc  illud  est  sericum,  in  quo  ostentare  po- 
tius  corpora  quam  vestire,  prime  feminis,  nunc  etiam  viris  persuasit  luxuriiB 
libido.    Cap.  1. 

The  Seres  first,  having  inundated  the  foliage  with  aspersions  of  water,  combed 
down  fleeces  from  trees  by  the  aid  of  a  fluid,  and  subdued  to  their  purposes  the 
tender  and  subtile  down  by  the  use  of  moisture.  The  substance  so  prepared  is 
silk ;  that  material  in  which  at  first  women,  but  now  even  men,  have  been  per- 
suaded by  the  eagerness  of  luxury  rather  to  display  their  bodies,  than  to  clothe 
them. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


39 


AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS. 

This  historian  describes  the  Seres  as  "  a  quiet  and  inoffen- 
sive people  who.  avoiding  all  quarrels  with  their  neighbors,  are 
exempt  from  the  distresses  and  alarms  of  war,  and  not  being 
under  the  necessity  of  using  offensive  arms,  do  not  even  know 
their  use,  and  occupy  a  fertile  country  under  a  delicious  and 
healthy  climate.  He  represents  them  as  passing  their  happy 
life  in  the  most  perfect  tranquillity  and  the  most  delicious  re- 
pose amidst  shady  thickets  refreshed  by  pleasant  zephyrs,  and 
where  the  soil  furnishes  so  soft  a  wool,  that  after  having  been 
sprinkled  with  water  and  combed,  it  forms  cloths  resembling 
silk." 

Marcellinus  proceeds  to  describe  the  Seres  as  being  content 
with  their  own  felicitous  condition,  and  so  reserved  in  their  in- 
tercourse with  the  rest  of  mankind,  that  when  foreigners  ven- 
ture within  their  boundaries  for  wrought  and  unwrought  silk, 
and  other  valuable  articles,  they  consider  the  price  offered  in 
silence,  and  transact  their  business  without  exchanging  a  word ; 
a  mode  of  traffic  which  is  still  practised  in  some  eastern  coun- 
tries. 

Macpherson,  in  the  Annals  of  Commerce,  a  very  valuable 
work,  thinks  that  according  to  all  appearances,  the  Seres  were 
themselves  the  authors  of  this  story,  in  order  to  make  stran- 
gers believe  that  their  country  enjoyed  all  these  benefits  by  the 
peculiar  blessing  of  heaven,  and  that  no  other  nation  could 
participate  in  them. 

The  remarks  of  Solinus  and  Ammianus  conspire  to  show, 
how  much  more  common  silk  had  become  about  the  end  of 
the  third  century,  being  then  worn,  at  least  with  a  warp  of 
cheaper  materials,  by  men  as  well  as  by  women,  and  not 
being  confined  to  the  noble  and  the  wealthy.  These  authors 
likewise  dilate  upon  the  use  of  showers  of  water  to  detach  silk 
from  the  trees  on  which  it  was  found.  According  to  Pliny  and 
Solinus,  water  was  also  employed  after  the  silk  was  gathered 
from  the  trees* :  and  probably  the  fact  was  so.     Silk,  as  it 


*  "  The  remaining  shores  are  occupied  by  savage  nations,  as  the  Melanchloeni 


4Q  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE,  ETC. 

comes  from  the  worm,  contains  a  strong  gum,  which  would  be 
dissolved  by  the  showers  of  water  dashed  against  the  trees, 
and  thus  the  cocoons,  being  loosened  from  the  leaves  and  twigs, 
would  be  easily  collected.  In  the  subsequent  processes,  water 
would  be  further  useful  in  enabling  the  women  to  spin  the  silk 
or  to  wind  it  upon  bobbins. 

It  may  be  observed  that  in  this  use  of  water  art  only  follows 
nature.  When  the  moth  is  ready  to  leave  its  cell,  it  always 
softens  the  extremity  of  it  by  emitting  a  drop  of  fluid,  and  thus 
easily  obtains  for  itself  a  passage.  In  the  third  volume  of  the 
Transactions  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  (p.  543.),  Colonel 
Sykes  gives  the  following  account  of  the  process  by  which  the 
moth  of  the  Kolisurra  silk- worm  liberates  itself  from  confine- 
ment. "  It  discharges  from  its  mouth  a  liquor,  which  dissolves 
or  loosens  that  part  of  the  cocoon  adjoining  to  the  cord  which 
attaches  it  to  the  branch,  causing  a  hole,  and  admitting  of  the 
passage  of  the  moth.  The  solvent  property  of  this  liquid  is 
very  remarkable ;  for  that  part  of  the  cocoon,  against  which  it 
is  directed,  although  previously  as  hard  as  a  piece  of  wood,  be- 
comes soft  and  pervious  as  wetted  brown  paper." 

In  the  seventh  volume  of  the  Linneean  Transactions,  is  an 
account  by  Dr.  Roxburgh  of  the  Tusseh  silk-worm.  Both 
species  are  natives  of  Bengal.  The  cocoons  require  to  be  im- 
mersed in  cold  water  before  the  silk  can  be  obtained  from  them. 
In  the  latter  species  it  is  too  delicate  to  be  wound  from  the  co- 
coons, and  is  therefore  spun  like  cotton.  Thus  manufactured 
it  is  so  durable,  that  the  life  of  one  person  is  seldom  sufficient 
to  wear  out  a  garment  made  of  it,  and  the  same  piece  descends 
from  mother  to  daughter.    (See  Chap.  VIII.  of  this  Part.) 


and  Coraxi,  Dioscurias,  a  City  of  the  Colchians,  near  the  river  Anthemus,  being 
now  deserted,  although  formerly  so  illustrious,  that  Timosthenes  has  recorded 
that  three  hundred  nations  used  to  resort  to  it  speaking  different  languages; 
and  that  business  was  afterwards  transacted  on  our  part  through  the  medium  d 
one  hundred  and  thirty  interpreters  " 


CHAPTER  III, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SILK  MANUFACTURE  FROM  THE 
THIRD  TO  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 


SPINNING,  DYEING,  AND  WEAVING.  HIGH  DEGREE  OF  EXCELLENCE 

ATTAINED   IN   THESE  ARTS. 

Fourth  century — Curious  account  of  silk  found  in  the  Edict  of  Diocletian — Extrav- 
agance of  the  Consul  Furius  Placidus — Transparent  silk  shifts — Ausonius  de- 
scribes silk  as  the  produce  of  trees — Quintus  Aur  Symmachus,  and  Claudian's  tes- 
timony of  silk  and  golden  textures — Their  extraordinary  beauty — Pisander's  de- 
scription— Periplus  Maris  Erythrsei — Dido  of  Sidon.  Mention  of  silk  in  the 
laws  of  Manu — Rufiis  Festus  Avinus — Silk  shawls — Marciannus  Capella — In- 
scription by  M.  N.  Proculus,  silk  manufacturer — Extraordinary  spiders'  webs — 
Bombyces  compared  to  spiders — Wild  silk -worms  of  Tsouen — Kien  and  Tiao- 
Kien — M.  Bertin's  account — Further  remarks  on  wild  silk-worms.  Chris- 
tian authors  of  the  fourth  century — Arnobius — Gregorius  Nazienzenus — Basil — 
Illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection — Ambrose — Georgius  Pisida — 
Macarius — Jerome  —  Chrysostom  —  Heliodorus  —  Salmasius  —  Extraordinary 
beauty  of  the  silk  and  golden  textures  described  by  these  authors — Their  invec- 
tives against  Christians  wearing  silk.  Mention  of  silk  by  Christian  authors  in 
the  fifth  century — Prudentius — Palladius — Theodosian  Code — Appolinaris  Si- 
donius — Alcimus  Avitus.  Sixth  century — Boethius.  (Manufactures  of  Tyre 
and  Sidon — Purple — Its  great  durability — Incredible  value  of  purple  stuffs 
found  in  the  treasury  of  the  King  of  Persia.) 

FOURTH  CENTURY. 

Some  curious  evidence  respecting  the  use  of  silk,  both  un- 
mixed with  linen  and  with  the  warp  of  linen,  or  some  inferior 
materia],  is  found  in  the  Edict  of  Diocletian,  which  was 
published  A.  D.  303  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  a  maximum  of 
prices  for  all  articles  in  common  use  throughout  the  Roman 
Empire*.  The  passage  pertaining  to  our  present  subject,  is  as 
follows : 


*  It  was  edited  A.  D.  1826,  by  Colonel  Leake,  as  a  sequel  to  his  Journal  of  a 
Tour  in  Asia  Mmor,  and  is  also  published  in  Tr.  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Litera- 
ture, vol.  i.  p.  181. 


42 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


Sarcinatori  in  veste  soubtili  replicat(u)ra3      .    .    *  sex 
Eidem  aporturue  cum  subsutura  olosericas     .    .    *  quinquaginta 
Eidem  aperturae  cum  subsutura  su(b)sericce  .    .    *  triginta 
(Sub)suturoe  in  veste  grossiori  *  quattuor. 

Denarii*. 

To  the  Tailor  for  lining  a  fine  vest  6 

To  the  same  for  an  opening  and  an  edging  with  silk  50 

To  the  same  for  an  opening  and  an  edging  with  stuff  made  of  a  mixed  tis- 
sue of  silk  and  flax  30 

For  an  edging  on  a  coarser  vest  4 


Colonel  Leake's  translation. 

This  document  proves,  in  exact  conformity  with  the  passages 
quoted  from  Solinus  and  Ammianus,  that  silk  had  come  into 
general  use  at  the  commencement  of  the  fourth  century.  It  is 
also  manifest  from  this  extract,  that  silk  was  employed  in  giv- 
ing to  garments  a  greater  proportion  of  intricacy  and  ornament 
than  had  been  in  use  before. 

The  authors  who  make  mention  of  silk  in  the  fourth  and  fol- 
lowing centuries  are  very  numerous.  We  shall  first  take  the 
heathen  authors,  and  then  the  Christian  writers,  whose  observa- 
tions often  have  some  moral  application,  which  gives  them  an 
additional  interest. 

The  unknown  author  of  the  Panegyric  on  the  emperor  Con- 
stantine,  pronounced  A.  D.  317,  thus  mentions  silk  as  charac- 
terizing oriental  refinement. 

Facile  est  vincere  timidos  et  imbelles,  quales  amoena  Graecia  et  delicise  Orientis 
educunt,  vix  leve  pallium  et  sericos  sinus  vitando  sole  tolerantes. 

It  is  easy  to  vanquish  the  timid  and  those  unused  to  war,  the  offspring  of  pleas- 
sant  Greece  and  the  delightful  East,  who,  whilst  they  avoid  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
can  scarcely  bear  even  a  light  shawl  and  folds  of  silk. 

The  testimony  of  the  Roman  historian  Flavius  Yopiscus, 
in  reference  to  the  practice  of  the  emperor  Aurelian  and  the 
dearness  of  silk  during  his  reign,  has  already  been  produced. 
This  author,  in  his  life  of  the  same  emperor,  makes  the  follow- 
ing remarks  on  a  display  of  silk  which  he  had  himself  recently 
witnessed. 


*  A  Roman  coin  of  the  value  of  about  sixteen  or  seventeen  cents,  called  De- 
narii from  the  letter  X  upon  it ;  which  denoted  ten. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


43 


We  have  lately  seen  the  Consulate  of  Furius  Placidus  celebrated  in  the  Circus 
with  so  great  eagerness  for  popularity,  that  he  seemed  to  give  not  prizes,  but  pa- 
trimonies, presenting  tunics  of  linen  and  silk,  borders  of  linen,  and  even  horses, 
to  the  great  scandal  of  all  good  men. 

The  exact  period  here  referred  to  is  no  doubt  the  Consulship 
of  Placidus  and  Romulus,  A.  D.  343. 

In  the  Epistles  of  Alciphron  (i.  39.)  Myrrhine,  a  courtesan, 
loosens  her  girdle,  which  probably  fastened  her  upper  garment 
or  shawl.  Her  shift  was  silk,  and  so  transparent  as  to  show 
the  color  of  her  skin. 

AUSONIUS 

satirizes  a  rich  man  of  mean  extraction,  who  nevertheless 
made  lofty  pretensions  to  nobility  of  birth,  pretending  to  be  de- 
scended from  Mars,  Romulus,  and  Remus,  and  who  therefore 
caused  their  images  to  be  embossed  upon  his  plate  and  woven 
in  a  silken  shawl. — Epig.  26. 

In  the  following  line,  he  alludes  to  the  production  of  silk  in 
the  usual  terms : 

Vellera  depectit  nemoralia  vestifluus  Ser. 

Idyll  12. 

The  Ser  remote,  in  flowing  garments  drest, 
Combs  down  the  fleeces,  which  the  trees  invest. 

aUINTUS  AUR  SYMMACHUS. 

This  distinguished  officer,  in  a  letter  to  the  Consul  Stilicho, 
apologizes  in  the  following  terms  for  his  delay  in  sending  a  con- 
tribution of  Holoseric  pieces,  that  is,  webs  wholly  made  of  silk, 
to  the  public  exhibitions. 

Others  have  deferred  supplying  the  water  for  the  theatre  and  the  Holoseric 
pieces,  so  that  I  have  examples  in  my  favor. — Epist.  I.  iv.  8. 

In  a  letter  to  Magnillus  (I.  v.  20.)  he  speaks  of  Subseric 
pieces,  webs  made  only  in  part  of  silk,  as  presents  ; 

At  your  instigation  the  Subseric  pieces  have  been  supplied,  which  my  men 
kept  back  after  the  price  had  been  settled ;  and  likewise  everything  else  pertain- 
ing to  the  prizes  which  were  to  be  given. 

CLAUDIAN 

mentions  silk  in  numerous  passages.    This  poet,  in  describing 


44  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

the  consular  robes  of  the  two  brothers  Probinus  and  Olybrius 
(A.  D.  395.),  represents  the  Gabine  Cincture,  by  which  the  toga 
was  girt  over  the  breast,  as  made  of  silk. 

In  the  following  passage  he  represents  the  two  brothers, 
Honorius  and  Arcadius,  as  dividing  the  empire  of  the  world  be- 
tween them  and  receiving  tributes  of  its  productions  from  the 
most  distant  regions : 

Vestri  juris  erit,  quicquid  complectitur  axis. 
Vobis  rubra  dabunt  pretiosas  aequora  conchas, 
Indus  ebur,  ramos  Panchaia,  vellera  Seres. 

Be  III.  Cons.  Honorii,  I.  209-211. 
To  you  the  world  its  various  wealth  shall  send : 
Their  precious  shells  the  Erythrean  seas  ; 
India  its  iv'ry,  Araby  its  boughs, 
The  distant  Seres  fleeces  from  the  trees. 

In  a  poem,  which  immediately  succeeds  this  in  the  order  of 
time,  Claudian  describes  a  magnificent  toga,  worn  by  Honorius 
on  being  appointed  a  fourth  time  consul,  by  saying,  that  it  re- 
ceived its  color  (the  Tyrian  purple)  from  the  Phoenicians  ;  its 
woof  (of  silk  forming  stripes  or  figures)  from  the  Seres  ;  and 
its  weight  (produced  by  Indian  gems)  from  the  river  Hydas- 
pes*.  Again,  in  his  poem  on  the  approaching  marriage  of 
Honorius  and  Maria,  he  mentions  yellow  silk  curtains  (1. 211.) 
as  a  decoration  of  the  nuptial  chamber. 

Again  he  says  (in  Eutrop.  I.  i.  v.  225,  226.  304.  I.  ii.  v. 
337.) : 

Te  grandibus  India  gcmmis, 
Te  foliis  Arabes  ditent,  te  vellere  Seres. 
Let  India  with  her  gems  thy  wealth  increase, 
The  Arabs  with  their  leaves,  the  Seres  with  their  fleece. 

He  also  mentions  with  delight  the  use  of  gold  in  dress,  as 
well  as  of  silk.  The  following  passage  represents  the  manner 
in  which  Proba,  a  Roman  matron,  near  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century,  expressed  her  affectionate  congratulations  on  the  ele- 
vation of  her  two  sons  to  the  Consulship,  by  preparing  robes  in- 
terwoven with  gold  for  the  ceremony  of  their  installation. 


*  De  IV.  Cons.  Honorii,  i.  600,  601. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


45 


With  joy  elated  at  this  proud  success, 

Their  venerable  mother  now  prepares 

The  golden  trabeas,  and  the  cinctures  bright 

With  Seric  fibres  shorn  from  woolly  trees : 

Her  well-train'd  thumb  protracts  the  length'ning  gold, 

And  makes  the  metal  to  the  threads  adhere. 

In  Probini  et  Olybrii  Consulatum,  I.  177-182. 

From  these  verses  we  learn  that  Proba  had  herself  acquired 
the  art  of  covering  the  thread  with  gold,  and  that  she  then 
used  her  gold  thread  in  the  u;oof  to  form  the  stripes  or  other 
ornaments  of  the  consular  trabese.  These  are  afterwards  call- 
ed "stiff  togas"  (togce  rigentes,  I.  205.),  on  account  of  the 
rigidity  imparted  to  them  by  the  gold  thread. 

The  same  poet  gives  an  elaborate  description  of  a  Trabea 
which  he  supposes'  to  have  been  woven  by  the  Goddess  Rome 
with  the  aid  of  Minerva  for  the  use  of  the  Consul  Stilicho. 
Five  different  scenes  are  said  to  have  been  woven  in  this  admi- 
rable robe  (regentia  dona,  graves  auro  trabeas),  and  certain 
parts  of  them  were  wrought  in  gold*. 

Again,  Claudian  supposes  Thetis  to  have  woven  scarfs  of  gold 
and  purple  for  her  son  Achilles : 

Ipsa  manu  chlamydes  ostro  texebat  et  auro.    ( Ep.  35.) 

The  epigram  in  which  this  line  occurs,  seems  to  imply  that 
Serena,  mother-in-law  of  the  Emperor  Honorius,  wove  garments 
of  the  same  kind  for  him. 

Maria,  the  daughter  of  the  above-mentioned  Stilicho,  was 
bestowed  by  him  upon  Honorius,  but  died  shortly  after,  about 
A.  D.  400.  In  February,  1544,  the  marble  coffin,  containing 
her  remains,  was  discovered  at  Rome.  In  it  were  preserved  a 
garment  and  a  pall,  which,  on  being  burnt,  yielded  36  pounds 
of  gold.  There  were  also  found  a  great  number  of  glass  ves- 
sels, jewels,  and  ornaments  of  all  kinds,  which  Stilicho  had 
given  as  a  dowry  to  his  daughtert.  We  may  conclude,  that 
the  garments  discovered  in  the  tomb  of  Maria  were  woven  by 
the  hands  of  her  mother  Serena,  since  the  epigram  of  Claudian 


*  In  I.  Cons.  Stilichonis,  L.  ii.  330-359. 

t  Surii  Comment.    Rerum  Gest.  ab  anno  1500,  &c. 


46 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OP 


proves  that  she  wove  robes  of  a  similar  description  for  Hono- 
rius,  and  probably  on  the  same  occasion.  Anastasius  Biblio- 
thecarius  says,  that  when  Pope  Paschal  was  intent  on  finding 
the  body  of  St.  Caecilia,  having  performed  mass  with  a  view 
to  obtain  the  favor  of  a  revelation  on  the  subject,  he  was  di- 
rected A.  D.  821  to  a  cemetery  on  the  Appian  Way  near  Rome, 
and  there  found  the  body  enveloped  in  cloth  of  gold*.  Although 
there  is  no  reason  to  believe,  that  the  body  found  by  Paschal 
was  the  body  of  the  saint  pretended,  yet  it  may  have  been  the 
body  of  a  Roman  lady  who  had  lived  some  centuries  before, 
and  probably  about  the  time  of  Honorius  and  Maria. 

Pisander,  who  belonged  to  the  same  period  (900  B.  C.)  with 
Homer,  speaks  of  the  Lydians  as  wearing  tunics  adorned 
with  gold.  Lydus  observes,  that  the  Lydians  were  supplied 
with  gold  from  the  sands  of  the  Pactolus  and  the  Hermust. 

Virgil  also  represents  the  use  of  gold  in  weaving,  as  if  it  had 
existed  in  Trojan  times.  One  of  the  garments  so  adorned 
was  manufactured  by  Dido,  the  Sidonian,  one  by  Androm- 
ache, and  another  was  in  the  possession  of  AnchisesJ.  In 
all  these  instances  the  reference  is  to  the  habits  of  Phoenice, 
Lycia,  or  other  parts  of  Asia. 

He  describes  an  ape  ludicrously  attired  in  a  silk  jacket ;  and, 
inveighing  against  the  progress  of  luxury,  he  speaks  of  some 
to  whom  even  silk  garments  were  a  burthen.  In  elaborate 
descriptions  of  the  figured  consular  robes  (the  Trabese)  of  Ho- 
norius and  Stilicho,  he  mentions  the  reins  and  other  trap- 
jjings  of  horses,  as  being  wrought  in  silk§. 

The  frequent  allusions  to  silk  in  the  complimentary  poems 
of  Claudian,  receive  illustration  from  various  imperial  laws, 
which  were  promulgated  in  the  same  century,  and  in  part  by 
the  very  emperors  to  whom  his  flattery  is  addressed,  and  which 


*  "  Aureis  vestitum  indumentis."  De  Vitis  Rom.  Pontificum  Mogunt.  1602, 
p.  222. 

t  De  Magistratibus  Rom.  L.  iii.  §  64. 

t  Mn,  iii.  483. ;  iv.  264. ;  viii.  167. ;  xi.  75. 

§  Rubra  Serica,  De  VI.  Cons.  Honor.  I.  577.  Serica  Frsena.  In  I.  Cons.  Stih- 
ehonis  1.  ii.  V.  350. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


47 


are  preserved  in  the  Code  of  Justinian.  Their  object  was 
not  to  encourage  the  silk  manufacture,  but,  on  a  principle  very 
opposite  to  that  of  modern  times,  to  make  it  an  imperial  mo- 
nopoly. The  admiration  excited  by  the  splendor  and  elegance 
of  silk  attire  was  the  ground,  on  which  it  was  forbidden  that 
any  individual  of  the  male  sex  should  wear  even  a  silken  bor- 
der upon  his  tunic  or  pallium,  with  the  exception  of  the  em- 
peror, his  officers  and  servants.  To  confine  the  enjoyment  of 
these  luxuries  more  entirely  to  the  imperial  family  and  court, 
all  private  persons  were  strictly  forbidden  engaging  in  the 
manufacture,  gold  and  silken  borders  were  to  be  made  only  in 
the  imperial  Gynsecea*. 

the  periplus  maris  erythrjei. 

In  this  important  document  on  ancient  geography  and  com- 
merce, we  find  repeated  mention  of  silk  in  its  raw  state,  in  that 
of  thread,  and  wovent.  These  articles  were  conveyed  down 
the  Indus  to  the  coast  of  the  Erythrean  Sea.  They  were  also 
brought  to  the  great  mart  of  Barygaza,  which  was  on  the 
Gulf  of  Cambay  near  the  modern  Surat,  and  to  the  coast  of 
Lymirica,  which  was  still  more  remote.  The  author  of  the 
Periplus  states,  that  they  were  carried  by  land  through  Bactria 
to  Barygaza  from  a  great  city  called  Thina,  lying  far  towards 
the  North  in  the  interior  of  Asia.  He  of  course  refers  to  some 
part  of  Serica.  It  is  remarkable,  that  he  makes  no  mention 
of  silk  as  the  native  production  of  India. 

Silk  is  mentioned  in  two  passages  of  the  laws  of  Manu,  viz. 
XI.  v.  168,  and  XII.  v.  64.  It  is,  however,  observed  by  Heer- 
en,  who  quotes  passages  of  the  Ramayana  that  make  mention 
of  silk,  that  garments  of  this  material  are  there  represented  as 
worn  only  on  festive  occasions,  and  that  they  were  undoubt- 
edly Seric  or  Chinese  productions*.    Indeed  it  appears  that 


*  See  the  Corpus  Juris  Civilis,  Lugduni  1627,  folio,  torn.  v.  Codex  Justiniani, 
1.  x.  tit.  vii.  p.  131.  134. 

t  Arriani  Opp.,  vol.  ii.    Blancardi,  pp.  164,  170.  173.  177. 

X  Ideen  iiber  die  Politik,  &c.  der  alten  Welt,  i.  2.  pp.  647.  648.  665-668.  677. 
3rd  edition.    Gottingen,  1815. 


48 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


the  cloth  made  from  the  thread  of  the  native  worms  of  Hin- 
dostan,  although  highly  valued  for  strength  and  durability,  is 
not  remarkable  for  fineness,  beauty,  or  splendor. 

RUFUS  FESTUS  AVIENUS. 

This  author,  adopting  the  common  notion  of  his  time,  sup- 
poses the  Seres  to  spin  thread  from  fleeces  which  were  produced 
upon  the  trees.  He  also  mentions  silk  shawls  (Serica  pallia, 
I.  1008.)  as  worn  by  the  female  Bacchantes  of  Ionia  in  their 
processions  in  honor  of  Bacchus ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark, 
that  they  are  not  mentioned  in  the  original  passage  of  Dionys- 
ius,  the  author  whom  Avienus  translates,  so  that  we  may 
reasonably  infer,  that  the  use  of  them  on  these  occasions  was 
introduced  between  the  time  of  Dionysius  (about  30  B.  C.)  and 
that  of  Avienus  (A.  D.  400). 

MARTIANUS  CAPELLA. 

Beyond  these  (the  Anthropophagi)  are  the  Seres,  who  asperse  their  trees  with 
water  to  obtain  the  down,  which  produces  silk.    L.  vi.  p.  223.  ed.  Grotii,  1599. 

The  following  Inscription  is  given  in  Gruter,  Tom.  iii.  p. 
dcxlv.  It  was  found  at  Tivoli,  and  expresses  that  M.  N. 
Proculus,  silk-manufacturer,  erected  a  monument  to  Valeria 
Chrysis,  his  excellent  and  deserving  wife. 

D.  M. 
VALERIAE.  CHRYSIDI. 
M.  NVMIVS.  PROCVLVS. 
SERICARIVS. 
CONJVGI.  SVAE. 
OPTIMA.  BENEM. 
FECIT. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  Christian  writers  of  the  4th  and  fol- 
lowing centuries  we  may  now  introduce  the  remarks  of  Servius 
on  the  passage  formerly  quoted  from  Virgil.  He  is  supposed  to 
have  written  about  A.  D.  400. 

Among  the  Indians  and  Seres  there  are  on  the  trees  certain  worms,  called 
Bombyces,  which  draw  out  very  fine  threads  after  the  manner  of  spiders ;  and 
these  threads  constitute  silk. 


SLIK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


49 


It  will  be  seen  hereafter,  that  these  "  Indian  Seres"  were  the 
inhabitants  of  Khotan  in  Little  Bucharia. 

The  frequent  comparison  of  Bombyces  to  spiders  by  the  an- 
cients suggests  the  inquiry  whether  they  employed  the  thread 
of  any  kind  of  spider  to  make  cloth,  as  was  attempted  in 
France  by  M.  Bon.  The  failure  of  his  attempt  is  sufficient, 
as  it  appears,  to  show,  that  the  extensive  manufacture  of  gar- 
ments from  this  material  must  have  been  scarcely  possible  in 
ancient  times.  It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  the  ancients, 
when  they  compare  the  silk-worm  to  the  spider,  refer  to  the 
spider's  iveb,  whereas  M.  Bon,  not  finding  the  web  strong 
enough,  made  his  cloth  from  the  thread  with  which  the  spider 
envelopes  its  eggs*. 

But,  although  we  have  no  reason  to  believe,  that  the  web  of 
any  spider  was  anciently  employed  to  make  cloth,  yet  these 
accounts  may  have  referred  to  worms,  possibly  varieties  of  the 
silk-worm,  which  spun  long  threads  floating  in  the  air.  The 


*  The  most  extraordinary  account  of  a  spider's  web,  which  we  have  ever  seen, 
is  that  given  by  Lieutenant  W.  Smyth.  -He  says,  "  We  saw  here  (viz.  at  Pachi- 
za,  on  the  river  Huayabamba  in  Peru)  a  gigantic  spider's  web  suspended  to  the 
trees:  it  was  about  25  feet  in  height,  and  near  50  in  length;  the  threads  were 
very  strong,  and  it  had  the  empty  sloughs  of  thousands  of  insects  hanging  on  it. 
It  appeared  to  be  the  habitation  of  a  great  number  of  spiders  of  a  larger  size  than 
we  ever  saw  in  England."  Narrative  of  a  Journey  from  Lima  to  Para,  London, 
1836,  p.  141. 

For  some  interesting  notices  of  the  great  spider  of  Brazil  the  reader  is  referred 
to  Caldcleugh's  Travels  in  South  America,  London  1825,  vol  i.  ch.  2.  p.  41  ;  and 
to  the  Rev.  R.  Walsh's  Notices  of  Brazil,  London  1830,  vol.  ii.  p.  300,  301.  Mr. 
Caldcleugh  "  assisted  in  liberating  from  a  spider's  net  a  bird  of  the  size  of  a 
swallow,  quite  exhausted  with  struggling,  and  ready  to  fall  a  prey  to  its  inde- 
fatigable enemies."  Mr.  Walsh  had  his  light  straw  hat  removed  from  his  head 
by  a  similar  web  extending  from  tree  to  tree  in  an  opening  through  which  he  had 
occasion  to  pass.  He  wound  upon  a  card  several  of  the  threads  composing  the 
web ;  and  he  observes,  that,  as  these  spiders  are  gregarious,  the  difficulties  expe- 
rienced by  M.  Bon  from  the  ferocity  of  the  solitary  European  spiders  in  killing 
and  devouring  one  another,  would  not  exist  if  the  attempt  were  made  to  obtain 
clothing  from  the  former. 

In  the  forests  of  Java  Sir  George  Staunton  "  found  webs  of  spiders,  woven 
with  threads  of  so  strong  a  texture  as  not  easily  to  be  divided  without  a  cutting 
instrument." — Account  of  Lord  Macartney's  Embassy  to  China,  London  1797, 
vol  i.  ch.  7.  p.  302.    (See  Chap.  IX.) 

7 


50 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


common  silk-worm  spins  and  suspends  itself  by  its  thread,  long 
before  it  begins  its  cocoon.  It  appears  probable,  therefore,  that 
there  may  have  been  wild  varieties  of  this  creature,  or  perhaps 
other  species  of  the  same  genus,  which  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
their  existence  spun  threads  long  enough  for  use.  We  ground 
this  conjecture  partly  on  the  following  passage  from  Du  Halde's 
History  of  China*. 

"  The  province  of  Chan-tong  produces  a  particular  sort  of  silk,  which  is  found 
in  great  quantities  on  the  trees  and  in  the  fields.  It  is  spun  and  made  into  a  stuff 
called  Kien-tcheou.  This  silk  is  made  by  little  insects  that  are  much  like  cater- 
pillars. They  do  not  spin  an  oval  or  round  cocoon,  like  the  silk- worms,  but  very 
long  threads.  These  threads,  as  they  are  driven  about  by  the  winds,  hang  upon 
the  trees  and  bushes,  and  are  gathered  to  make  a  sort  of  silk,  which  is  coarser 
than  that  made  of  the  silk  spun  in  houses.  But  these  worms  are  wild,  and  eat 
indifferently  the  leaves  of  mulberry  and  other  trees.  Those  who  do  not  under- 
stand this  silk  would  take  it  for  unbleached  cloth,  or  a  coarse  sort  of  drugget. 

"  The  worms,  which  spin  this  silk,  are  of  two  kinds :  the  first,  much  larger  and 
blacker  than  the  common  silk-worms,  are  called  Tsouen-kien ;  the  second,  being 
smaller,  are  named  Tiao-kien.  The  silk  of  the  former  is  of  a  reddish  gray,  that 
of  the  latter  darker.  The  stuff  made  of  these  materials  is  between  both  colors,  it 
is  very  close,  does  not  fret,  is  very  lasting,  washes  like  linen,  and,  when  it  is  good, 
receives  no  damage  by  spots,  even  though  oil  were  to  be  shed  on  it. 
\  "  This  stuff  is  much  valued  by  the  Chinese,  and  it  is  sometimes  as  dear  as 
satin  or  the  finest  silks.  As  the  Chinese  are  very  skilful  at  counterfeiting,  they 
make  a  false  sort  of  Kien-tcheou  with  the  waste  of  the  Tche-kiang  silk,  which 
without  due  inspection  might  easily  be  taken  for  the  genuine  article." 

This  account  affords  a  remarkable  illustration  of  many  of 
the  expressions  of  the  ancient  writers,  such  as  "  Bombyx  pen- 
dulus  urget  opus,"  Martial;  "Per  aerem  liquando  aranearum 
horoscopis  idoneas  sedes  tendit,"  Tertullian  ;  "  In  aranearum 
morem  tenuissima  fila  deducunt,"  Servius. 

In  further  illustration  of  the  subject,  and  as  tending  to  show 
that  the  Kien-tcheou  is  manufactured  from  the  thread  of  a 
silk- worm,  modified  in  its  habits  and  perhaps  in  its  organization 
by  circumstances,  we  shall  now  quote  a  few  passages  from  a  work 
having  the  following  title :  "  China  ;  its  costume,  arts,  man- 
ufactures, fyc,  edited  from  the  originals  in  the  cabinet  of 
M.  Bertin,  with  observations  by  M.  Breton.  Translated 
from  the  French.    London,  1812."    Vol.  iv.  p.  55,  fyc. 


*  Vol.  ii.  p.  359,  360,  8vo.  edition,  London,  1736. 


SILK  BY   THE  ANCIENTS. 


51 


"  The  wild  silk-worms  are  found  in  the  hottest  provinces  of  China,  especially 
near  Canton.  They  live  indifferently  on  all  sorts  of  leaves,  particularly  on  those 
of  the  ash,  the  oak,  and  the  fagara,  and  spin  a  greyish  and  rarely  white  silk. 
The  coarse  cloth  manufactured  from  it  is  called  Kien-tcheou,  will  bear  washing, 
and  on  that  account  persons  of  quality  do  not  disdain  to  wear  clothes  of  it.  With 
this  silk  also  the  strings  of  musical  instruments  are  made,  because  it  is  stronger 
and  more  sonorous. 

"  Entomologists  treat  but  very  superficially  of  the  habits  of  the  wild  silk- 
worms, while  they  dwell  in  minute  detail  on  the  method  of  rearing  them  in  Pro- 
vence. 

"  It  is  between  the  nineteenth  and  twenty-second  day  of  their  existence,  that 
they  undertake  the  great  work  of  spinning  their  cocoon.  They  curve  a  leaf 
into  a  kind  of  cup,  and  then  form  a  cocoon  as  large  and  nearly  as  hard  as  a  hen's 
egg  !  This  cocoon  has  one  end  open  like  a  reversed  funnel ;  it  is  a  passage  for 
the  butterfly,  which  is  to  come  out. 

"  The  oak-worms  are  slower  in  making  their  cocoon  than  those  of  the  fagara 
and  ash,  and  they  set  about  it  differently.  Instead  of  bending  a  single  leaf,  they 
roll  themselves  in  two  or  three  and  spin  their  cocoon.  It  is  larger,  but  the  silk  is 
inferior  in  quality,  and  of  course  not  so  valuable. 

"  The  cocoons  of  wild  silk- worms  are  so  strong  and  compact,  that  the  insects 
encounter  great  difficulty  in  extricating  themselves,  and  therefore  remain  inclosed 
from  the  end  of  the  summer,  to  the  spring  of  the  following  year.  These  butter- 
flies, unlike  the  domestic  insect,  fly  very  well. — The  domestic  silk-worm  is  but  a 
variety  of  the  wild  species.  It  is  fed  on  the  leaves  of  the  mulberry  tree."  (Seo 
chap.  VIII.) 

The  circumstance  that  the  worms  were  sometimes  fed  with 
oak-leaves  is  mentioned  in  Du  Halde's  History  of  China, 
vol.  ii.  p.  363. 

Here  then  we  have  a  justification  of  the  ancients  in  asserting", 
both  that  the  silk-worms  produced  long  threads  and  webs  float- 
ing in  the  air  like  those  of  spider s,  and  that  they  fed  upon 
the  leaves  of  the  oak,  the  ash,  and  many  other  trees.  It  may 
be  recollected,  that  Pliny  expressly  mentions  both  the  oak 
(quercus)  and  the  ash  (fraxinus). 

Until  very  lately  the  use  of  silk  among  the  ancients  was  in- 
vestigated only  by  philologists.  Within  a  few  years  M.  Latreille, 
an  entomologist  of  the  highest  distinction,  has  directed  his  at- 
tention to  the  subject  and  has  examined  particularly  the  above- 
cited  passages  of  Aristotle,  Pliny,  and  Pausanias*.    He  never 


*  M.  Latreille's  paper  is  published  in  the  Annales  des  Sciences  Naturelles,  tome 
xxiii.  pp.  58-84. 


52  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

supposes  the  ancient  Sericum  to  have  been  the  produce  of  any- 
thing except  the  silk-worm.  But  of  this  there  are  several  va- 
rieties, partly  perhaps  natural,  and  partly  the  result  of  domes- 
tication. He  endeavors  to  explain  some  parts  of  Pliny's  descrip- 
tion by  showing  their  seeming  correspondence  with  some  of  the 
practices  actually  observed  by  the  Orientals  in  the  management 
of  silk-worms. 

An  account  of  the  wild  silk-worms  of  China  is  to  be  found 
in  the  "  Memoires  concernant  FHistoire,  les  Sciences,  les  Arts, 
&c,  des  Chinois,"  compiled  by  the  missionaries  of  Peking''. 
This  account  is  principally  derived  from  the  information  of  Fa- 
ther D'Incarville,  one  of  the  missionaries.  It  coincides  gen- 
erally with  the  accounts  already  quoted  from  Du  Halde  and 
Breton.  We  extract  the  following  particulars  as  conveying 
some  further  information : 

"  The  Chinese  annals  from  the  year  150  B.  C.  to  A.  D.  638  make  frequent 
mention  of  the  great  quantity  of  silk  produced  by  the  wild  worms,  and  observe 
that  their  cocoons  were  as  large  as  eggs  or  apricots." 

The  following  passage  is  also  deserving  of  attention  :  "  Le 
papillon  de  ces  vers  sauvages,  dit  le  Pere  d'Incarville,  est  a  ailes 
vitrees."  This  information,  if  correct,  would  prove  that  there 
was  at  least  one  kind  of  wild  silk-worms  in  China,  which  was 
a  different  species  from  the  Phalsena  Mori ;  for  that  has  no 
transparent  membranes  in  its  wings,  and  would  not  be  likely  to 
receive  them  in  consequence  of  any  change  in  its  mode  of  life. 

We  now  proceed  to  take  the  Christian  authors  of  the  fourth 
and  following  centuries  in  the  order  of  time. 

arnobius  (a.  d.  306.) 
thus  speaks  of  the  heathen  gods : 

They  want  the  covering  of  a  garment :  the  Tritonian  virgin  must  spin  a  threat* 
of  extraordinary  fineness,  and  according  to  circumstances  put  on  a  tunic  either  of 
mail,  or  silkt. 


*  Tome  ii.  pp.  579-601.  Paris,  1777,  4to.  This  Memoir  is  reprinted  with 
abridgments  as  an  Appendix  to  Stanislaus  Julien's  Translation  of  the  Chinese 
Treatise  on  the  Breeding  of  Silk-worms,  Paris,  1837,  8vo. 

t  Adv.  Gentes,  1.  iii.  p.  580,  ed.  Erasmi. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


53 


GREGORIUS   NAZIENZENUS,  CL.,  A.  D.  370. 

The  following  passage  contains,  we  believe,  the  earliest  al- 
lusion to  the  use  of  silk  in  the  services  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"AXXoi  fxlv  xpvaovTC  Kal  apyvpov,  ol  Si  ra  Ylrjptiv 

Atopa  tyipovoi  Bey  vfifxara  XeTrraXia. 
Kai  ¥LpiGTb)  Ovair\v  rig  ayvr]v  dvidr]KZV  eavrdv' 
K.cu  anevSei  Sapxvuiv  dXXog  ayvdg  XifidSag. 
Ad  Hellenium  pro  Monachis  Carmen,  torn.  ii.  p.  106.  ed.  Par.  1G30. 
Silver  and  gold  some  bring  to  God 
Or  the  fine  threads  by  Seres  spun : 
Others  to  Christ  themselves  devote, 
A  chaste  and  holy  sacrifice. 
And  make  libations  of  their  tears. 

Yates's  Translation. 

BASIL,  CL.,  A.  D.  370. 

Although  this  celebrated  author  was  a  native  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  had  studied  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  he  appears  to  have 
known  the  silk- worm  only  from  books  and  by  report.  His  de- 
scription of  it  in  the  following  passage,  in  which  we  first  find 
the  beautiful  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection  from 
the  change  of  the  chrysalis,  is  chiefly  copied  from  Aristotle's  ac- 
count as  formerly  quoted. 

Tt  (pare  ol  dmoTovvreg  rw  HavXcp  -xepl  rrjg  Kara.  rr)v  dvavracriv  dXXoidoosaig,  bpaivrsg  rroXXa 
tcov  depi(x>v  rag  fxop^ag  LieraPdXXovra  ;  biroia  Kal  irepl  rov  'IvSixov  cK<x)Xr)Kog  larropurai  rov 
(C£pa<j(f)6pov  Sg  eig  Kafxirriv  Tcnrpajra  {jLErafiaXtov,  elra  irpo'idiv  po^PvXidg  ylveraif  Kal  ovSi  i/rl 
Tavrrjg  'icrrarai  rrjg  Lioptprig,  dXXa  ^avvoig  Kal  nXareai  irerdXoig  vironrtpovrai.  "Orav  ovv 
KaOs^rjcde  riiv  rovrtdv  epyaaiav  duarrrji/i^Sfxevai  al  yvvaixtg,  ra  vf)[xara  Xeyo)9  a  itzhitovgiv 
VjxTv  ol  Jlr)peg  irpdg  rr)v  rdv  LiaXaiKav  EvSvpLdroiv  KaraaKevrjv,  fxe[xvrj^.svai  rrjg  Kara  to  $ioov 
rovro  fxerafioXrjg,  Ivapyrj  Xa^Pdvere  rrjg  dvaardtrecog  evvoiav,  Kal  fxr)  dniareire  rrj  dXXayrj9 
%v  TIavXog  azaai  Kare-rrayyiXXeTai, — Hexahemeron,  p.  79.  A.  Ed.  Benedict. 

What  have  you  to  say,  who  disbelieve  the  assertion  of  the  Apostle  Paul  con- 
cerning the  change  at  the  resurrection,  when  you  see  many  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  air  changing  their  forms  ?  Consider,  for  example,  the  account  of  the  horned 
worm  of  India,  which  (i.  e.  the  silk-worm)  having  first  changed  into  a  caterpillar 
(eruca,  or  veruca),  then  in  process  of  time  becomes  a  cocoon  {bombylius,  or  bom- 
bulio),  and  does  not  continue  even  in  this  form,  but  assumes  light  and  expanded 
wings.  Ye  women,  who  sit  winding  upon  bobbins  the  produce  of  these  animals, 
namely  the  threads,  which  the  Seres  send  to  you  for  the  manufacture  of  fine  gar- 
ments, bear  in  mind  the  change  of  form  in  this  creature ;  derive  from  it  a  clear 
conception  of  the  resurrection ;  and  discredit  not  that  transformation  which  Paul 
announces  to  us  all. — Yates's  Translation. 


54  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

When  St.  Basil  says  of  the  new-born  moth,  that  "  it  as- 
sumes light  and  expanded  wings/'  the  beauty  of  the  com- 
parison in  illustrating  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
is  enhanced,  when  we  consider  that  in  its  wild  state  the  moth 
flies  very  well,  although,  when  domesticated,  its  flight  is  weak 
and  its  wings  small  and  shrivelled* :  but  still  more  beautiful 
does  the  figure  become,  if  we  suppose  a  reference  to  those 
larger  and  more  splendid  Phalsense  which  produce  the  coarser 
kinds  of  silk  in  India,  and  probably  in  China  also. 

Basil  is  the  first  writer,  who  distinctly  mentions  the  change 
of  the  silk-worm  from  a  Chrysalis  to  a  moth.  In  his  applica- 
tion of  that  fact  he  addresses  himself  to  his  countrywomen  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  his  language  represents  them  sitting  and 
winding  on  bobbins  the  raw  silk  obtained  from  the  Seres  and 
designed  to  be  afterwards  woven  into  cloth. 

Between  these  two  authors,  Aristotle  and  Basil,  we  observe 
a  difference  of  phraseology  which  appears  deserving  of  notice. 
While  they  both  describe  the  women,  not  as  spinning  the 
silk,  but  as  winding  it  on  bobbi?is,  they  designate  the  ma- 
terial so  wound  by  two  different  names.  Basil  uses  the  term 
i/fyara,  which  might  be  meant  to  imply  that  the  silk  came 
from  the  Seres  in  skeins  as  it  comes  to  us  from  China :  Aris- 
totle, on  the  contrary,  uses  the  term  Po^vKta,  which  can  only 
refer  to  the  state  of  silk  before  it  is  wound  into  skeins. 
As  it  might  appear  impossible  to  convey  it  in  this  state  to 
Cos,  we  shall  here  insert  from  the  authorities  already  quoted, 
the  Chinese  Missionaries,  an  account  of  the  process  by  which 
the  cocoons  are  prepared  for  winding,  and  it  will  then  be  seen, 
that  the  cocoons  might  have  been  transported  to  any  part  of 
the  world. 

"  To  prepare  the  cocoons  of  the  wild  silk-worms,  the 
Chinese  cut  the  extremities  of  them  with  a  pair  of  scissors. 
They  are  then  put  into  a  canvass  bag,  and  immersed  for  an 
hour  or  more  in  a  kettle  of  boiling  lye,  which  dissolves  the 
gum.    When  this  is  effected,  they  are  taken  from  the  kettle; 


*  The  Phalaena  Atlas,  apparently  a  native  of  China,  measures  eight  inches 
across  the  wings  from  tip  to  tip. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


55 


pressed  to  expel  the  lye,  and  then  laid  out  to  dry.  Whilst 
they  are  still  moist,  the  chrysalises  are  extracted ;  each  cocoon 
is  then  turned  inside  out,  so  as  to  make  a  sort  of  cowl.  It  is 
necessary  only,  to  put  them  again  into  lukewarm  water, 
after  which  ten  or  twelve  of  them  are  capped  one  upon  an- 
other like  so  many  thimbles,  to  insert  a  small  distaff  through 
them,  when  the  silk  may  be  reeled  off. 

Basil,  in  one  of  his  Homilies,  (Opp.  torn.  ii.  p.  53.  55.  ed. 
Benedict.)  inveighs  against  the  ladies  of  Csesarea,  who  em- 
ployed themselves  in  weaving  gold ;  and  he  is  no  less  indig- 
nant at  their  husbands  who  adorned  even  their  horses  with 
cloths  of  gold  and  scarlet  as  if  they  were  bridegrooms. 

The  author  of  a  Treatise  "  De  disciplina  et  bono  pudicitiae," 
which  is  usually  published  with  Cyprian,  and  which  may  be 
referred  to  the  fourth  or  fifth  century,  thus  speaks  (Cypriani 
Opera,  ed.  Erasmi,  p.  499.) : 

To  weave  gold  in  cloth  is,  as  it  were,  to  adopt  an  expensive  method  of  spoiling 
it.    Why  do  they  interpose  stiff  metals  between  the  delicate  threads  of  the  warp  ? 

The  same  censure  is  implied  in  the  following  address  of  Al- 
cimus  Avitus  to  his  sister. 

Non  tibi  gemmato  posuere  nonilia  collo, 
Nec  te  contexit,  neto  quae  fulguratauro 
Vestis,  ductilibus  concludens  fila  talentis : 
Nec  te  Sidonium  bis  coeti  muricis  ostrum 
Induit,  aut  rutilo  perlucens  purpura  succo, 
Mollia  vel  tactu  quae  mittunt  vellera  Seres : 
Nec  tibi  transfossis  fixerunt  auribus  aurum. 

No  threaded  gems  have  pressed  thy  sparkling  neck : 
No  cloth,  with  lines  incased  in  ductile  gold, 
Or  twice  with  the  Sidonian  murex  dyed, 
Has  glittered  on  thee :  thou  hast  never  worn 
The  fleeces  soft  which  distant  Seres  send  : 
Nor  are  thy  ears  transfixed  for  pendent  gold. 

The  effect  of  such  exhortations  as  the  preceding,  was  to  iu- 
duce  piously  disposed  persons  to  apply  pieces  of  gold  cloth  to 
public  and  sacred,  instead  of  private  purposes.  After  this 
period  we  find  continual  instances  of  their  use  in  the  decoration 
of  churches  and  in  the  robes  of  the  priesthood. 


56 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


AMBROSE,   CL.  A.  D.  374. 

Sericae  vestes,  et  auro  intexta  velamina,  quibus  divitis  corpus  ambitur,  damna 
viventium,  non  subsidia  defunctorum  sunt. — De  Nahutho  Jezraelitd,  cap.  i.  torn. 
i.  p.  566.  Ed.  Bened. 

Silken  garments,  and  veils  interwoven  with  gold,  with  which  the  body  of  the 
rich  man  is  encompassed,  are  a  loss  to  the  living,  and  no  gain  to  the  dead. 

Here  we  think  it  not  out  of  place  to  introduce  the  account  of 
the  silk-worm  by  Georgius  Pisida,  who  flourished  about  A.  D, 
640,  although  he  lived  at  Constantinople  after  the  breeding 
of  silk-worms  had  been  introduced  there.  According  to  him 
the  silk-worm  pines  or  moulders  almost  to  nothing  in  its  tomb3 
and  then  returns  to  its  former  shape.  The  verses  are  however 
deserving  of  attention  for  their  elegance,  and  for  the  repetition 
of  Basil's  idea,  which  Ambrose  has  left  out,  of  the  analogy  be- 
tween the  restoration  of  the  silk-worm  and  the  resurrection  of 
man. 

TloTog  Si  Kal  o-KCoXfjKa  HrjpiKov  ro^os 
TLeiQei  ra  XajXTTpOKAoiara  vfjfxara  ttXskclVj 
'A,  rrj  @a(prj  xpwadera  rfjS  aXovpyiSog, 
~X.avvoL  rov  oyKov  r&v  Kparovvrcov  ip.(pp6vo)Sj 
M.pf][xr]  yap  avrovg  evXafStog  virorpe^cii 
"On  npd  avrwv  rfjg  oroXfjg  r]  Xdp.np6rrig 
TiKcoXrjKog  r\v  evSvjxa  Kal  (pdaprrj  CKSTzri% 
"Og}  rrj  Ka69  f][xag  p.aprvpu)v  dvacrrdcEiy 

OvflCTKCl  [Jliv  £vSoV  TWV  laVTOV  Vr)H&TOJV} 

Tdv  avrdv  uIkov  kul  ra(pr}v  6eS£yu.evogl 
5j%£<5oi/  61  Tzavrog  rov  Kar*  avrdv  capKiov 
Hantvrog  rj  pvevrog  r]  rerrjyfxsvoVj 
j&povov  KaXovvrog  ck  (pOopag  virocrpityeif 
Kcu  rijv  irdXai  jxoptyiAaiv  dppr\ro)g  (pvsi 
?Ep  tw  mpirrevaavri  [xiKpiji  Xeiipdvcp^ 
Tlpdg  rrjv  an  dp^ng  a cottar ov^evog  ttXomiv. 

I  1265-1282. 
What  law  persuades  the  Seric  worm  to  spin 
Those  shining  threads,  which,  dyed  with  purple  hue. 
Inflate,  yet  check  the  pride  of  mighty  men  ? 
For,  whilst  they  blaze  in  grand  attire,  the  thought 
Steals  on, — This  splendid  robe  once  cloth'd  a  worm  : 
Type  of  our  resurrection  from  the  grave, 
It  dies  within  the  tomb  itself  has  spun, 
That  perishing  abode,  which  is  at  once 
Its  house  and  tomb ;  in  which  it  rots  away5 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


57 


Till  at  the  call  of  time  it  gladly  leaves 
Corruption,  and  its  ancient  shape  resumes. 
A  little  remnant  of  its  mould'ring  flesh, 
By  processes  unspeakable  and  dark, 
Restores  the  wonders  of  its  earliest  form. 

Yates's  Translation 

MACARIUS,  CL.,   A.   D.  373. 

This  author  gives  us  an  additional  proof  (Homil.  17,  §  9;)  that 
the  use  of  silken  clothing  was  characteristic  of  dissolute  women. 

JEROME,  CL.,  A.  D.  378. 

This  great  author  mentions  silk  in  numerous  passages. 

In  his  translation  of  Ezekiel  xxvii.  he  has  supposed  silk 
(sericum)  to  be  an  article  of  Syrian  and  Phoenician  traffic  as 
early  as  the  time  of  that  prophet. 

In  his  beautiful  and  interesting  Epistle  to  Lseta  on  the  Edu- 
cation of  her  Daughter  (Opp.  Paris,  1546,  torn.  i.  p.  20.  C), 
he  says  : 

Let  her  learn  also  to  spin  wool,  to  hold  the  distaff,  to  place  the  basket  in  her 
bosom,  to  twirl  the  spindle,  to  draw  the  threads  with  her  thumb.  Let  her  despise 
the  webs  of  silk-worms,  the  fleeces  of  the  Seres,  and  gold  beaten  into  threads. 
Let  her  prepare  such  garments  as  may  dispel  cold,  not  expose  the  body  naked, 
even  when  it  is  clothed.  Instead  of  gems  and  silk,  let  her  love  the  sacred 
books,  &c. 

Because  we  do  not  use  garments  of  silk,  we  are  reckoned  monks  ;  because  we 
are  not  drunken,  and  do  not  convulse  ourselves  with  laughter,  we  are  called  re- 
strained and  sad :  if  our  tunic  is  not  white,  we  immediately  hear  the  proverb,  He 
is  an  impostor  and  a  Greek. — Epist.  ad  Marcellmn,  De  Mgrotatione  BlesillcB, 
torn.  i.  p.  156,  ed.  Erasmi,  1526. 

You  formerly  went  with  naked  feet ;  now  you  not  only  use  shoes,  but  even 
ornamented  ones.  You  then  wore  a  poor  tunic  and  a  black  shirt  under  it,  dirty 
and  pale,  and  having  your  hand  callous  with  labor ;  now  you  go  adorned  with 
linen  and  silk,  and  with  vestments  obtained  from  the  Atrebates  and  from  Laodi- 
cea. — Adv.  Jovinianmn,  I.  ii  Opp.  ed.  Paris,  1546,  torn.  ii.  p.  29. 

In  the  following  he  further  condemns  the  practice  of  wrap- 
ping the  bodies  of  the  dead  in  cloth  of  gold  : 

Why  do  you  wrap  your  dead  in  garments  of  gold  ?  Why  does  not  ambition 
cease  amidst  waitings  and  tears?  Cannot  the  bodies  of  the  rich  go  to  corruption 
except  in  silk  ?    Epist.  L.  ii. 

You  cannot  but  be  offended  yourself,  when  you  admire  garments  of  silk  and 
gold  in  others.— Epist  L.  ii.  No.  9,  p.  138,  ed.  Par.  1613,  12/wa 


58 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


CHRYSOSTOM,  CL.,  A.  D.  398. 

'AXXa  crjpiKa  to.  ln&Tia':  dXXa  (hik'iwv  y^novaa  i)  ipv^i). 

Comment,  in  Psalm  48.  torn.  v.  p.  517.  ed.  Ben. 
Does  the  rich  man  wear  silken  shawls  ?    His  soul  however  is  full  of  tatters. 

KaXa  tcl  (rrjpiKa  tjxaTia,  dXXa  oxoskfiKOiv  IgtXv  vipacfxa. 

(Quoted  by  Vossius,  Etym.  Lat.  p.  466.) 
Silken  shawls  are  beautiful,  but  the  production  of  worms. 

Chrysostom  also  inveighs  against  the  practice  of  embroidering 
shoes  with  silk  thread,  observing  that  it  was  a  shame  even  to 
wTear  it  woven  in  shawls.  Such  is  the  change  of  circumstan- 
ces, that  now  even  the  poorest  persons  of  both  sexes,  if  decently 
attired,  have  silk  in  their  shoes. 

HELIODORUS,  CL.,  A.  D.  390. 

This  author,  describing  the  ceremonies  at  the  nuptials  of 
Theagenes  and  Chariclea,  says,  "  The  ambassadors  of  the 
Seres  came,  bringing  the  thread  and  webs  of  their  spiders,  one 
of  the  webs  dyed  purple  (!),  the  other  white."  JEthiopica, 
lib.  x.  p.  494.  Commelini. 

Salmasius  (in  Tertullianum  de  Pallio,  p.  242.)  quotes  the 
following  passage  from  an  uncertain  author. 

'Ojuoi'a  ectLv  j]  tov  Trap6vTog  fiiov  TcpTrvoTrjg  'IvStKw  o-kuXyjkioJj  onep  tw  0vXXcj  tov  otvSpov 
ovvtv\i)(BIv)  kg. i  Trj  Tpofy]  da^oX^dlVj  avvsnviyr]  Iv  aVTUt  tov  ixeTa^iov  kovkovXiw. 

The  pleasure  of  the  present  life  is  like  the  Indian  worm,  ^hicti,  having  involv- 
ed itself  in  the  leaf  of  the  tree  and  having  been  satisfied  with  food,  chokes  itself 
in  the  cocoon  of  its  own  thread. — Yates's  Translation. 

This  writer,  whoever  he  was,  appears  to  have  had  a  correct 
idea  of  the  manner  in  which  the  silk-worm  wraps  itself  in  a 
leaf  of  the  tree,  on  which  it  feeds,  and  spins  its  tomb  within*. 


*  In  the  Royal  Museum  of  Natural  History  at  Leyden  are  eight  or  ten  cocoons 
of  the  Phalsena  Atlas  from  Java.  They  consist  of  a  strong  silk,  and  are  formed 
upon  the  leaves  of  a  kind  of  Ficus.  The  first  layer  of  the  cocoon  covers  the 
whole  of  a  leaf,  and  receives  the  exact  impress  of  its  form.  Then  two  or  three 
other  layers  are  distinctly  perceptible.  Two  or  three  leaves  are  joined  together  to 
form  the  cocoon.  In  regard  to  the  looseness  of  the  layers  these  cocoons  do  not 
correspond  to  M.  Breton's  description  of  the  cocoons  of  the  wild  silk -worms  of 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


59 


FIFTH  CENTURY. 

PRUDENTIUS,  CL.j  A.  D.  405. 

The  following  sentence  occurs  in  a  speech  of  St.  Lawrence 
at  his  martyrdom : 

Hunc,  qui  superbit  serico, 
Quern  currus  inflatum  vehit , 
Hydrops  aquosus  lucido 
Tendit  veneno  intrinsecus. 

Peristeph.  Hymn.  ii.  I.  237-240. 
See  him,  attir'd  in  silken  pride, 
Inflated  in  his  chariot  ride  ; 
The  lucid  poison  works  within, 
Dropsy  distends  his  swollen  skin. 

In  another  Hymn  to  the  honor  of  St.  Romanus  we  find  the 
following  lines : 

Aurum  regestum  nonne  carni  adquiritur? 
Inlusa  vestis,  gemma,  bombyx,  purpura, 
In  carnis  usum  mille  quseruntur  dolis. 

Peristeph.  Hymn.  x. 
To  please  the  flesh  a  thousand  arts  contend  : 
The  miser's  heaps  of  gold,  the  figur'd  vest, 
The  gem,  the  silk-worm.,  and  the  purple  dye, 
By  toil  acquir'd,  promote  no  other  end. 

In  the  same  Hymn  (1. 1015.)  Prudentius  describes  a  heathen 
priest  sacrificing  a  bull,  and  dressed  in  a  silken  toga  which  is 
held  up  by  the  Gabine  cincture  (Cinctu  Gabino  Sericam  fultus 
togam).  Perhaps,  however,  we  ought  here  to  understand  that 
the  cincture  only,  not  the  whole  toga,  was  of  silk.  It  was  used 
to  fasten  and  support  the  toga  by  being  drawn  over  the  breast. 

In  two  other  passages  this  poet  censures  the  progress  of  lux- 
ury in  dress,  and  especially  when  adopted  by  men. 

Sericaque  in  fractis  fluitent  ut  pallia  membris 

Psychomachia,  I.  365. 
The  silken  scarfs  float  o'er  their  weaken'd  limbs. 

Sed  pudet  esse  viros :  quserunt  vanissima  quseque 
Quis  niteant :  genuina  leves  ut  robora  solvant, 


China,  which  are  very  strong  and  compact,  and  therefore  more  resemble  those  of 
the  Phalaena  Paphia. 


60 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


Vellere  non  ovium,  sed  Eoo  ex  orbe  petitis 
Ramorum  spoliis  fluitantes  sumere  amictus, 
Gaudent,  et  durum  scutulis  perfundere  corpus. 
Additur  ars,  ut  fila  herbis  saturata  recoctis 
Inludant  varias  distincto  stamine  formas. 
Ut  quoeque  est  lanugo  ferae  mollissima  tactu, 
Pectitur.    Hunc  videas  lascivas  praepete  cursu 
Venantem  tunicas,  avium  quoque  versicolorum 
Indumenta  novis  texentem  plumea  telis : 
Ilium  pigmentis  redolentibus,  et  peregrino 
Pulvere  femineas  spargentem  turpitur  auras. 

Hamartigenia,  I.  286-298. 

They  blush  to  be  call'd  men :  they  seek  to  shine 

In  ev'ry  vainest  garb.    Their  native  strength 

To  soften  and  impair,  they  gaily  choose 

A  flowing  scarf,  not  made  of  wool  from  sheep, 

But  of  those  fleeces  from  the  Eastern  world, 

The  spoil  of  trees.    Their  hardy  frame  they  deck 

All  o'er  with  tesselated  spots :  and  art 

Is  added,  that  the  threads,  twice  dyed. with  herbs, 

May  sportively  intwine  their  various  hues 

And  mimic  forms,  within  the  yielding  warp. 

Whatever  creature  wears  the  softest  down, 

They  comb  its  fleece.    This  man  with  headlong  course 

Hunts  motley  tunics  which  inflame  desire, 

Invents  new  looms,  and  weaves  a  feather'd  vest, 

Which  with  the  plumage  of  the  birds  compares : 

That,  scented  with  cosmetics,  basely  sheds 

Effeminate  foreign  powder  all  around. 

PALLADIUS. 

A  work  remains  under  the  name  of  Pailadius  on  66  The 
Nations  of  India  and  the  Brachmans."  Whether  it  is  by  the 
same  Pailadius,  who  wrote  the  Historia  Lausiaca.  is  disputed. 
But,  as  we  see  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  it  may  have  been  writ- 
ten as  early  as  his  time,  we  introduce  here  the  passages,  which 
have  been  found  in  it,  relating  to  the  present  subject.  The  au- 
thor represents  the  Bramins  as  saying  to  Alexander  the  Great, 
"  You  envelope  yourselves  in  soft  clothing,  like  the  silk- worms." 
(p.  17.  ed.  Bisscei.)  It  is  also  asserted,  that  Alexander  did  not 
pass  the  Ganges,  but  went  "  as  far  as  Serica,  where  the  silk- 
worms produce  raw-silk"  (p.  2.). 

In  the  London  edition  this  tract  \s  followed  by  one  in  Latin, 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


61 


bearing  the  name  of  St.  Ambrose  and  entitled  De  moribus 
Brachmanorum.  It  contains  nearly  the  same  matter  with 
the  preceding.  The  writer  professes  to  have  obtained  his  in- 
formation from  "  Musseus  Dolenorum  Episcopus,"  meaning,  as 
it  appears  from  the  Greek  tract,  Moses,  Bishop  of  Adule,  of 
whom  he  says, 

Sericam  fere  universam  regionem  peragravit :  in  qua  refert  arbores  esse,  qua) 
non  solum  folia,  sed  lanam  quoque  proferunt  tenuissimam,  ex  qua  vestimenta  con 
ficiuntur,  quae  Serica  nuncupantur.  p.  58. 

He  travelled  through  nearly  all  the  country  of  the  Seres,  in  which,  he  says, 
that  there  are  trees  producing  not  only  leaves,  but  the  finest  wool,  from  which 
are  made  the  garments  called  Serica. 

These  notices  are  not  devoid  of  value  as  indicating  what 
were  the  first  steps  to  intercourse  with  the  original  silk  country. 
It  may  however  be  doubted,  whether  the  last  account  here 
quoted  is  a  modification  of  the  ideas  previously  current  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  or  whether  it  arose  from  the  mistakes 
of  Moses  himself,  or  of  other  Christian  travellers  into  the  in- 
terior of  Asia,  who  confounded  the  production  of  silk  with 
that  of  cotton. 

the  theodosian  code, 

published  A.  D.  438,  mentions  silk  [sericam  et  met  ax  am)  in 
various  passages.  * 

APOLLINARIS   SIDONIUS,  CL.,  A.  D.  472. 

Describing  the  products  of  different  countries,  this  learned  au- 
thor says  [Carmen,  v.  I.  42-50), 

Fert 

Assyrius  gemmas,  Ser  vellera,  thura  Sabseus. 
Th'  Assyrian  brings  his  gems,  the  Ser 
His  fleeces,  the  Sabean  frankincense. 

In  a  passage  [Carmen,  xv.),  he  mentions  a  pall, 

Cujus  bis  coctus  aheno 
Serica  Sidonius  fucabat  stamina  murex. 
The  Tyrian  murex,  twice  i'  th'  cauldron  boil'd, 
Had  dyed  its  silken  threads. 

The  expression  here  used,  indicates  that  the  silk  thread  was 


62  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

brought  from,  the  country  of  the  Seres  to  be  dyed  in  Phcenice, 
In  Horace  we  have  already  noticed  the  "  Cose  purpurse." 

A  passage  from  the  Burgus  Pontii  Leontii  (Carmen,  xxii.), 
shows  that  the  same  article  (Serica  jila)  was  imported  into 
Gaul. 

In  the  same  author  (I.  ii.  Epist.  ad  tSerranum)  we  meet 
with  "  Sericatum  toreuma."  The  latter  word  probably  denoted 
a  carved  sofa  or  couch.  The  epithet  "  sericatum"  may  have 
referred  to  its  silken  cover. 

The  same  author  describes  Prince  Sigismer,  who  was  about 
to  be  married,  going  in  a  splendid  procession  and  thus  clothed : 

Ipse  medius  incessit,  flammeus  cocco,  rutilus  auro,  lacteus  serico.  L.  iv.  Epist, 
p  107.  ed.  Elmenhorstii. 

He  himself  marched  in  the  midst,  his  attire  flaming  with  coccus,  glittering 
with  gold,  and  of  milky  whiteness  with  silk. 

Describing  the  heat  of  the  weather,  he  says  : 

One  man  perspires  in  cotton,  another  in  silk. 

L.  ii.  Epist.  2. 

Lastly,  in  the  following  lines  he  alludes  to  the  practice  of 
giving  silk  to  the  successful  charioteers  at  the  Circensian 
games  : 

The  Emp'ror,  just  as  powerful,  ordains 

That  silks  with  palms  be  given,  crowns  with  chains: 

Thus  marks  high  merit,  and  inferior  praise 

In  brilliant  carpets  to  the  rest  conveys. 

Carmen,  xxiii.  I  423-427 

ALCIMUS  AVITUS,   CL.,  A.   D.  490. 

Describing  the  rich  man  in  the  parable  of  Lazarus,  this 
author  says : 

Ipse  cothurnatus  gemmis  et  fulgidus  auro 
Serica  bis  coctis  mutabat  tegmina  blattis. 

L.  iii.  222. 
In  jewell'd  buskins  and  a  blaze  of  gold, 
Silk  shawls,  or  twice  in  scarlet  dipt,  he  wore. 

Avitus  also  mentions  "  the  soft  fleeces  sent  by  the  Seres." 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


63 


SIXTH  CENTURYJ//s7, 


B0ETHIUS,  CL.j  A.  D.  5lU 

Nor  honey  into  wine  they  pour'd,  nor  mix'd 
Bright  Seric  fleeces  with  the  Tyrian  dye. 


De  Consol.  Philos.  ii. 

The  Tynans  are  chiefly  known  to  us  in  commercial  history 
for  their  skill  in  dyeing  ;  the  Tyrian  purple  formed  one  of  the 
most  general  and  principal  articles  of  luxury  in  antiquity  :  but 
dyeing  could  scarcely  have  existed  without  weaving,  and 
though  we  have  no  direct  information  respecting  the  Tyrian 
and  Sidonian  looms,  we  possess  several  ancient  references  to 
their  excellence,  the  less  suspicious  because  they  are  incidental. 
Homer,  for  instance,  when  Hecuba,  on  the  recommendation  of 
the  heroic  Hector,  resolves  to  make  a  rich  offering  to  Minerva, 
describes  her  as  selecting  one  of  Sidonian  manufacture  as  the 
finest  which  could  be  obtained. 


The  Phrygian  queen  to  her  rich  wardrobe  went 
Where  treasured  odors  breathed  a  costly  scent ; 
There  lay  the  vestures  of  no  vulgar  art — 
Sidonian  maids  embroider'd  every  part, 
Whom  from  soft  Sidon  youthful  Paris  bore 
With  Helen,  touching  on  the  Tyrian  shore. 
Here,  as  the  queen  revolved  with  careful  eyes 
The  various  textures  and  the  various  dyes, 
She  chose  a  veil  that  shone  superior  far, 
And  glow'd  refulgent  as  the  morning  star. 


Tyre  appears  to  have  been  the  only  city  of  antiquity  which 
made  dyeing  its  chief  occupation,  and  the  staple  of  its  com- 
merce. There  is  little  doubt  that  purple,  the  sacred  symbol  of 
royal  and  sacerdotal  dignity,  was  a  color  discovered  in  that 
city;  and,  that  it  contributed  to  its  opulence  and  grandeur. 
It  is  related  that  a  shepherd's  dog,  instigated  by  hunger,  having 
broken  a  shell  on  the  sea  shore,  his  mouth  became  stained 
with  a  color,  which  excited  the  admiration  of  all  who  saw  it, 
and  that  the  same  color  was  afterwards  applied  with  great  suc- 
cess to  the  dyeing  of  wool.  According  to  some  of  the  ancient 
writers,  this  discovery  is  placed  in  the  reign  of  Phoenix,  second 


Iliad,  vi. 


64 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 


King  of  Tyre  (five  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era) ; 
others  fix  it  in  that  of  Minos,  who  reigned  939  years  earlier  or, 
1439  B.  C.  The  honor  of  the  invention  of  dyeing  purple,  is 
however,  generally  awarded  to  the  Tynan  Hercules,  who  pre- 
sented his  discovery  to  the  king  of  Phoenicia  ;  and  the  latter 
was  so  jealous  of  the  beauties  of  this  new  color,  that  he  forbade 
the  use  of  it  to  all  his  subjects,  reserving  it  for  the  garments  of 
royalty  alone.  Some  authors  relate  the  story  differently :  Her- 
cules' dog  having  stained  his  mouth  with  a  shell,  which  he  had 
broken  on  the  seashore,  Tysus,  a  nymph  of  whom  Hercules 
was  enamored,  was  so  charmed  with  the  beauty  of  the  color, 
that  she  declared  she  would  see  her  lover  no  more  until  he  had 
brought  garments  dyed  of  the  same.  Hercules,  in  order  to 
gratify  his  mistress,  collected  a  great  number  of  the  shells,  and 
succeeded  in  staining  a  robe  of  the  color  she  had  demanded. 
"  Colored  dresses,"  says  Pliny*,  "  were  known  in  the  time  of 
Homer  (900  B.  C),  from  which  the  robes  of  triumph  were  bor- 
rowed." Purple  habits  are  mentioned  among  the  presents 
made  to  Gideon,  by  the  Israelites,  from  the  spoils  of  the  kings 
of  Midan.  Ovid,  in  his  description  of  the  contest  in  weaving 
between  Minerva  and  Arachne,  dwells  not  only  on  the  beauty 
of  the  figures  which  the  rivals  wove,  but  also  mentions  the  del- 
icacy of  shading  by  which  the  various  colors  were  made  to  har- 
monize together : 

Then  both  their  mantles  button'd  to  their  breast, 

Their  skilful  fingers  ply  with  willing  haste, 

And  work  with  pleasure,  while  they  cheer  the  eye 

With  glowing  purple  of  the  Tyrian  dye: 

Or  justly  intermixing  shades  with  light, 

Their  colorings  insensibly  unite 

As  when  a  shower,  transpierced  with  sunny  rays, 

Its  mighty  arch  along  the  heaven  displays ; 

From  whence  a  thousand  different  colors  rise 

Whose  fine  transition  cheats  the  clearest  eyes ; 

So  like  the  intermingled  shading  seems 

And  only  differs  in  the  last  extremes. 

Their  threads  of  gold  both  artfully  dispose, 

And,  as  each  part  in  just  proportion  rose, 

Some  antic  fable  in  their  work  disclose. — Metam.  vi. 


*  Plin.  viii.  48. 


SILK  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


65 


The  Tyrian  purple  was  communicated  by  means  of  several 
species  of  univalve  shell-fish.  Pliny  gives  us  an  account  of  two 
kinds  of  shell-fish  from  which  the  purple  was  obtained.  The 
first  of  these  was  called  huccinum,  the  other  purpura*.  A 
single  drop  of  the  liquid  dye  was  obtained  from  a  small  vessel 
or  sac,  in  their  throats,  to  the  amount  of  only  one  drop  from 
each  animal  !  A  certain  quantity  of  the  juice  thus  collected 
being  heated  with  sea  salt,  was  allowed  to  ripen  for  three  days, 
after  which  it  was  diluted  with  five  times  its  bulk  of  water,  kept 
at  a  moderate  heat  for  six  days  more,  occasionally  skimmed, 
to  separate  the  animal  membranes,  and  when  thus  clarified, 
was  applied  directly  as  a  dye  to  white  wool,  previously  prepared 
for  this  purpose,  by  the  action  of  lime-water,  or  of  a  species  of 
lichen  called  fucus.  Two  operations  were  requisite  to  commu- 
nicate the  finest  Tyrian  purple  ;  the  first  consisted  in  plunging 
the  wool  into  the  juice  of  the  purpura,  the  second  into  that  of 
the  buccinum.  Fifty  drachms  of  wool  required  one  hundred 
of  the  former  liquor,  and  two  hundred  of  the  latter.  Some- 
times a  preliminary  tint  was  given  with  cocus,  the  kermes  of 
the  present  day,  and  the  cloth  received  merely  a  finish  from 
the  precious  animal  juice.  The  color  appears  to  have  been 
very  durable ;  for  Plutarch  observes  in  his  life  of  Alexanderf, 
that,  at  the  taking  of  Susa,  the  Greeks  found  in  the  royal 
treasury  of  Darius  a  quantity  of  purple  stuffs  of  the  value  of 
five  thousand  talents,  which  still  retained  its  beauty,  though  it 
had  lain  there  for  one  hundred  and  ninety  yearst 

*  Plin.  Lib.  vi.  c.  36.  t  Plutarch,  chap.  36. 

t  The  true  value  of  the  talent  cannot  well  be  ascertained,  but  it  is  known  that 
it  was  different  among  different  nations.  The  Attic  talent,  the  weight,  contained 
60  Attic  minae,  or  6000  Attic  drachmae,  equal  to  56  pounds,  11  ounces,  English 
troy  weight.  The  mina  being  reckoned  equal  to  £3  4s.  Id.  sterling,  or  $14  33 
cents  ;  the  talent  was  of  the  value  of  £193  155.  sterling,  about  $861.  Other 
computations  make  it  £225  sterling. 

The  Romans  had  the  great  talent  and  the  little  talent ;  the  great  talent  is 
computed  to  be  equal  to  £99  6s.  Sd.  sterling,  and  the  little  talent  to  £15  sterling. 

2.  Talent,  among  the  Hebrews,  was  also  a  gold  coin,  the  same  with  a  shekel 
of  gold  ;  called  also  stater,  and  weighing  only  four  drachmas.  But  the  Hebrew 
talent  of  silver,  called  dear,  was  equivalent  to  three  thousand  shekels,  or  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  pounds,  ten  ounces,  and  a  fraction,  troy  weight. — Arbuthnot* 

9 


CHAPTER  IV. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SILK  MANUFACTURE  CONTINUED 
FROM  THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  SILK-WORMS  INTO 
EUROPE,  A.D.  530,  TO  THE  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY. 

A.  D.  530. — Introduction  of  silk-worms  into  Europe — Mode  by  which  it  was 
effected — The  Serinda  of  Procopius  the  same  with  the  modern  Khotan — The 
silk-worm  never  bred  in  Sir-hind — Silk  shawls  of  Tyre  and  Berytus— Tyran- 
nical conduct  of  Justinian — Ruin  of  the  silk  manufactures — Oppressive  conduct 
of  Peter  Barsames — Menander  Protector — Surprise  of  Maniak  the  Sogdian  am- 
bassador— Conduct  of  Chosroes,  king  of  Persia — Union  of  the  Chinese  and  Per- 
sians against  the  Turks — The  Turks  in  self-defence  seek  an  alliance  with  the 
Romans — Mortification  of  the  Turkish  ambassador — Reception  of  the  Byzan- 
tine ambassador  by  Disabul,  king  of  the  Sogdiani — Display  of  silk  textures — 
Paul  the  Silentiary's  account  of  silk — Isidorus  Hispalensis.  Mention  of  silk  by 
authors  in  the  seventh  century — Dorotheus,  Archimandrite  of  Palestine — In- 
troduction of  silk-worms  into  Chubdan,  or  Khotan — Theophylactus  Simocatta 
— Silk  manufactures  of  Turfan — Silk  known  in  England  in  this  century — 
First  worn  by  Ethelbert,  king  of  Kent — Use  of  by  the  French  kings — Aldhel- 
mus's  beautiful  description  of  the  silk-worm — Simile  between  weaving  and  vir- 
tue. Silk  in  the  eighth  century — Bede.  In  the  tenth  century — Use  of  silk  by 
the  English,  Welsh,  and  Scotch  kings.  Twelfth  century — Theodorus  Prodro- 
mus — Figured  shawls  of  the  Seres — Ingulphus  describes  vestments  of  silk 
interwoven  with  eagles  and  flowers  of  gold — Great  value  of  silk  about  this 
time — Silk  manufactures  of  Sicily — Its  introduction  into  Spain.  Fourteenth 
century — Nicholas  Tegrini — Extension  of  the  Silk  manfacture  through  Eu- 
rope, illustrated  by  etymology — Extraordinary  beauty  of  silk  and  golden  tex- 
tures used  in  the  decoration  of  churches  in  the  middle  ages — Silk  rarely  men- 
tioned in  the  ninth,  eleventh,  or  thirteenth  centuries. 

We  now  come  to  the  very  interesting  account  of  the  first  in- 
troduction of  silk- worms  into  Europe,  which  is  given  by  Pro- 
copius in  the  following  terms.    (De  Bello  Gothico,  iv.  17.) 

"About  this  time  (A.  D.  530.)  two  monks,  having  arrived 
from  India,  and  learnt  that  Justinian  was  desirous  that  his 
subjects  should  no  longer  purchase  raw  silk  from  the  Persians, 
went  to  him  and  offered  to  contrive  means,  by  which  the  Ro- 
mans would  no  longer  be  under  the  necessity  of  importing  this 
article  from  their  enemies  the  Persians  or  any  other  nation. 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK.  67 

They  said,  that  they  had  long  resided  in  the  country  called 
Serinda,  one  of  those  inhabited  by  the  various  Indian  nations, 
and  had  accurately  informed  themselves  how  raw  silk  might 
be  produced  in  the  country  of  the  Romans.  In  reply  to  the 
repeated  and  minute  inquiries  of  this  Emperor,  they  stated, 
that  the  raw  silk  is  made  by  worms,  which  nature  instructs 
and  continually  prompts  to  this  labor  ;  but  that  to  bring  the 
worms  alive  to  Byzantium  would  be  impossible ;  that  the 
breeding  of  them  is  quite  easy ;  that  each  parent  animal  pro- 
duces numberless  eggs,  which  long  after  their  birth  are  covered 
with  manure  by  persons  who  have  the  care  of  them,  and  being 
thus  warmed  a  sufficient  time,  are  hatched.  The  Emperor 
having  promised  the  monks  a  handsome  reward,  if  they  would 
put  in  execution  what  they  had  proposed,  they  returned  to  In- 
dia and  brought  the  eggs  to  Byzantium,  where,  having  hatched 
them  in  the  manner  described,  they  fed  them  with  the  leaves 
of  the  Black  Mulberry and  thus  enabled  the  Romans  thence- 
forth to  obtain  raw  silk  in  their  own  country." 

The  same  narrative,  abridged  from  Procopius,  is  found  in 
Manuel  Glycas  (Annal.  I.  iv.  p.  209.),  and  Zonares  (Annal.  I. 
xiv.  p.  69.  ed.  Du  Cange.).  In  the  abstract  given  by  Photius 
(Biblioth.  p.  80.  ed.  Rotham)  of  the  history  of  Theophanes 
Byzantinus,  who  was  a  writer  of  nearly  the  same  age  with  Pro- 
copius, we  find  a  narrative,  in  which  the  only  variation  is,  that 
a  Persian  brought  the  eggs  to  Byzantium  in  the  hollow  stem 
of  a  plant.  The  method  now  practised  in  transporting  the 
eggs  from  country  to  country  is  to  place  them  in  a  bottle  not 
more  than  half  full,  so  that  by  being  tossed  about,  they  may  be 
kept  cool  and  fresh.  If  too  close,  they  would  probably  be  heat- 
ed and  hatch  on  the  journey*. 

The  authors  who  have  hitherto  treated  of  the  history  of  the 
silk-worm,  have  supposed  the  Serinda  of  Procopius  to  be  the 
modern  Sir-hind,  a  city  of  Circar  in  the  North  of  Hindostant. 


*  Transactions  of  the  Society  for  encouraging  Arts,  Manufactures,  &c,  vol. 
xliii.  p.  236. 

t  In  this  they  have  followed  D'Anville,  Antiquite*  Geographique  de  l'Inde, 
Paris,  1775,  p.  63. 


68  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK 

Notwithstanding  the  striking  similarity  of  names,  we  think  it 
more  likely  that  Serinda  was  adopted  by  Procopius  as  another 
name  for  Khotan  in  Little  Bucharia.  The  ancients  included 
Khotan  among  the  Indian  nations*  :  and  that  they  were  right 
in  so  doing  is  established  from  the  facts,  that  Sanscrit  was  the 
ancient  language  of  the  inhabitants  of  Khotan  ;  that  their  al- 
phabetical characters,  their  laws,  and  their  literature  resembled 
those  of  the  Hindoos ;  and  that  they  had  a  tradition  of  being  In- 
dian in  their  origint.  Since,  therefore,  Khotan  was  also  in- 
cluded in  the  ancient  Serica,  a  term  probably  of  wide  and  ra- 
ther indefinite  extentf ;  the  name  Serinda  would  exactly  de- 
note the  origin  and  connexions  of  the  race  which  occupied 
Khotan. 

On  the  other  hand,  although  Sir-hind  is  termed  "  an  ancient 
city"  by  Major  Rennell§,  we  cannot  find  any  evidence  that  the 


*  In  proof  of  this  we  refer  to  Heeren,  Ideen,  i.  L  p.  358-387,  on  the  Indian 
tribes  which  constituted  one  of  the  Persian  Satrapies,  and  in  which  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Khotan  appear  to  have  been  included ;  and  also  to  Cellarii  Antiqui  Orbis 
Notitia,  1.  iii.  c.  23.  §  2. 

t  Remusat,  Hist,  de  la  Ville  de  Khotan,  p.  32.  Note  1.  and  p.  37. 

X  De  Guignes  (Hist.  Gen.  des  Huns,  tome  i.  p.  v.)  expresses  his  opinion,  that 
Serica,  besides  the  North  of  China,  included  the  countries  towards  the  West,  which 
were  conquered  by  the  Chinese,  viz.  Hami,  Turfan,  and  other  neighboring  territo- 
ries. Rennell  (Mem.  of  a  map  of  Hindostan)  agrees  with  D'Anville,  that  Serica 
was  at  the  Northwest  angle  of  the  present  empire  of  China.  Heeren  decides 
in  favor  of  the  same  opinion,  supposing  Serica  to  be  identical  with  the  modern 
Tongut.  Comment.  Soc.  Reg.  Scient.  Gottingensis,  vol.  xi.  p.  106.  111.  Gottingse, 
1793. 

Pausanias  observes  that  the  Seres,  in  order  to  breed  the  insects  which  produced 
silk,  had  houses  adapted  both  for  summer  and  winter,  which  implies  that  there 
was  a  vast  difference  between  the  summer  and  winter  temperature  of  their  coun- 
try. A  late  oriental  traveller  says  of  the  climate  of  Khotan,  "  In  the  summer, 
when  melons,  ripen,  it  is  very  hot  in  these  countries ;  but,  during  winter,  ex- 
tremely cold." — Wathen's  Memoir  on  Chinese  Tartary  and  Khotan,  in  Journal  of 
the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  December  1835,  p.  659. 

On  referring  to  the  map,  Plato  VII.,  the  reader  will  see  the  position  of  Serica 
indicated  at  its  Eastern  extremity.  As  that  map  is  limited  to  the  Orbis  Veteri- 
bus  CognituSy  only  a  Small  space  on  its  border  is  marked  as  the  country  of  silk 
indicated  by  the  yellow  color.  It  is,  nevertheless,  pretty  certain  that  silk  may  be 
justly  placed  next  in  order  to  wool. 

§  Memoir  of  a  Map  of  Hindostan. 


AFTER  ITS  FIRST  INTRODUCTION  INTO  EUROPE.  69 

silk-worm  was  ever  bred  there.  So  far  is  this  from  being  the 
case,  that  it  appears  to  be  a  country  very  ill  adapted  for  the  pro- 
duction of  silk*.  It  may  indeed  be  true,  as  stated  by  Latreille, 
that  Sir-hind  was  colonized  from  Khotan,  and  it  may  be  men- 
tioned as  a  remarkable  circumstance  in  confirmation  of  this 
supposition,  that  there  is  a  town  called  Kotana  a  little  way  to 
the  North  East  of  the  City  of  Sir-hind.  But,  supposing  this 
account  to  be  correct,  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  settlement 
of  Sir-hind  as  a  colony  of  Khotan  did  not  take  place  till  after 
the  year  530,  when  the  breeding  of  silk-worms  was  according 
to  Procopius  introduced  into  Europe  from  "  Serinda."  Rather 
more  than  120  years  before  this  time  India  was  visited  by  the 
Chinese  traveller,  Pa  Hian,  who  on  his  way  passed  some 
months  with  great  delight  and  admiration  in  Khotan ;  and  the 
special  object  of  whose  journey  was  to  see  and  describe  all  the 
cities  of  India  where  Buddhism  was  professed.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  Khotan  being  wholly  devoted  to  that  delusion,  the 
same  system  must  have  been  established  in  its  colony;  and, 
since  this  zealous  pilgrim  crossed  India  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  spot  where  Sir-hind  afterwards  stood,  we  cannot  doubt 
that  he  would  have  mentioned  it,  if  it  had  existed  in  his  age. 
He  says  not  a  word  about  it ;  and  the  time  is  comparatively  so 
short  between  his  visit  to  India  and  the  date  of  the  introduction 
of  silk- worms  into  Europe,  that  we  can  scarcely  suppose  Sir-hind, 
the  colony  of  Khotan  and  consequently  the  seat  of  Buddhism, 
to  have  been  in  existence  either  at  the  former  or  latter  periodt. 

In  another  passage  of  his  history  [Bell.  Pers.  1.  20.)  Pro- 
copius throws  some  light  upon  our  subject  by  stating  that  in 
consequence  of  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  in  raw  silk  by  the 
Persians,  Justinian  attempted  to  obtain  it  throngh  the  iEthi- 


*  "  The  S.  W.  portion  of  the  Circar  Sir-hind  is  extremely  barren,  being  cover- 
ed with  low  scrubby  wood,  and  in  many  places  destitute  of  water.  About  A.  D. 
1357  Feroze  the  Third  cut  several  canals  from  the  Jumna  and  the  Sutulege  in 
order  to  fertilize  this  naturally  arid  country." — Walter  Hamilton's  Description  of 
Hindostan,  vol.  i.  p.  465. 

t  Foe  Koue  Ki,  ou  Relation  des  Royaumes  Bouddiques :  Voyage  dans  la  Tar- 
tarie,  dans  1' Afghanistan,  et  dans  PInde ;  traduit  du  Chinois  et  commente  par 
Remusat,  Klaproth,  et  Landresse.    Paris,  1836,  4to. 


70  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK 

opians  of  Arabia,  but  found  this  to  be  impracticable,  as  the 
Persian  merchants  frequented  the  ports  to  which  the  Indian? 
resorted,  and  from  them  purchased  all  their  cargoes. 

Procopius  further  states  {Hist.  Arcana,  c.  25.),  that  silk 
shawls  had  long  been  manufactured  in  the  Phoenician  cities 
Tyre  and  Berytus  (to  which  all  who  were  concerned  in  the 
silk  trade,  either  as  merchants  or  manufacturers,  consequently 
resorted,  and  from  whence  goods  were  carried  to  every  part  of 
the  earth) ;  but  that  in  the  reign  of  Justinian  the  manufactu- 
rers in  Byzantium  and  other  Greek  cities  raised  the  prices  of 
their  goods,  alleging  that  the  Persians  had  also  advanced  theirs, 
while  the  imposts  were  increased  among  the  Romans.  Justin- 
ian, pretending  to  be  much  concerned  at  the  high  prices,  for- 
bade any  one  in  his  dominions  to  sell  silk  for  more  than  eight 
aurei  per  pound,  threatening  confiscation  of  goods  against  any 
one  who  transgressed  the  law.  To  comply  was  impossible, 
since  they  were  required  to  sell  their  goods  at  a  price  lower  than 
that  for  which  they  bought  them.  They  therefore  abandoned 
the  trade,  and  secretly  sold  the  remnant  of  their  goods  for  what 
they  could  get.  The  Empress  Theodora,  on  being  apprised  of 
this,  immediately  seized  the  goods  and  fined  the  proprietors  a 
hundred  aurei  besides.  It  was  then  determined,  that  the  silk 
manufacture  should  be  carried  on  solely  by  the  Imperial  Treas- 
urer. Peter  Barsames  held  the  office,  and  conducted  him- 
self in  relation  to  this  business  in  the  most  unjust  and  oppres- 
sive manner,  so  that  the  silk-trade  was  ruined  not  only  in  By- 
zantium but  also  at  Tyre  and  Berytus,  while  the  Emperor, 
Empress  and  their  Treasurer  amassed  great  wealth  by  the 
monopoly. 

MENANDER  PROTECTOR,  A.  D.  560-570. 

In  an  account  of  an  embassy  sent  to  Constantinople  by  the 
Avars  of  Sarmatia,  this  author  states,  that  the  Emperor  Jus- 
tinian endeavored  to  excite  their  admiration  by  a  display  of 
splendid  couches,  gold  chains,  and  garments  of  silk*. 

The  establishment  of  the  Turkish  power  in  Asia,  about  the 


*  Corp.  Hist.  Byzant.  ed.  1729.  torn.  i.  p.  67. 


AFTER  ITS   FIRST  INTRODUCTION  INTO  EUROPE.  71 

middle  of  the  sixth  century,  together  with  subsequent  wars,  had 
greatly  interrupted  the  caravan  trade  between  China  and 
Persia.  On  the  return  of  peace,  the  Sogdians,  an  Asiatic  peo- 
ple, who  had  the  greatest  interest  in  the  revival  of  the  trade, 
persuaded  the  Turkish  sovereign,  whose  subjects  they  were  be- 
come, to  send  an  embassy  to  Chosroes,  king  of  Persia,  to  open 
a  negotiation  for  this  purpose.  Maniak,  a  Sogdian  prince,  who 
was  ambassador,  being  instructed  to  request  that  the  Sogdians 
might  be  allowed  to  supply  the  Persians  with  silk ;  presented 
himself  before  the  Persian  monarch  in  the  double  character  of 
merchant  and  envoy,  carrying  with  him  many  bales  of  silken 
merchandise,  for  which  he  hoped  to  find  purchasers  among  the 
Persians.  But  Chosroes,  who  thought  the  conveyance  by  sea 
to  the  Persian  Gulf  more  advantageous  to  his  subjects  than  this 
proposed  traffic,  was  not  disposed  to  lend  a  favorable  ear  to  the 
legation,  and  rather  uncourteously  showed  his  contempt  for  the 
Sogdian  traders.  He  bought  up  all  the  silk  which  the  ambas- 
sador had  carried  with  him,  and  immediately  burned  it  before 
them ;  thus  giving  the  most  convincing  proof  of  the  little  value 
which  it  had  in  his  estimation. 

After  this  the  Persians  and  Chinese  united  against  the  Turks, 
who,  to  strengthen  themselves,  sought  an  alliance  with  the 
Emperor  Justin.  Maniak  was  again  appointed  ambassador, 
and  sent  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  the  alliance  ;  but  disappoint- 
ment, though  from  a  dissimilar  cause,  attended  this  his  second 
embassy.  The  sight  of  silk-worms,  and  the  establishment  for 
manufacturing  their  produce,  in  Constantinople,  were  to  him  as 
unwelcome  as  unexpected  •  he  however  concealed  his  mortifica- 
tion, and,  with  perhaps  an  overstrained  civility,  acknowledged, 
that  the  Romans  were  already  become  as  expert  as  the  Chinese 
in  both  the  management  of  silk-worms  and  manufacture  of 
their  silk* ;  and  when  in  the  fourth  year  of  Justin  II.  (i.  e.  A.  D. 
569.)  they  went  on  the  same  mission  to  Byzantium,  they  found 
that  here  also  there  was  no  demand,  since  silk-worms  were 
bred  there  already.  Soon  after  this  we  learn  that  the  Byzan- 
tines sent  an  embassy  to  Disabul,  King  of  the  Sogdiani,  who 


*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  chap.  xlii. 


72  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OP  SILK 


received  the  ambassadors  in  tents  covered  with  variously-colored 
silks. 

PAUL,  THE  SILENTIARY,  A.  D.  562, 

mentions  silk  thread,  used  in  adorning  the  vestments  in  the' 
church  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople.  (P.  ii.  L  368.)  The 
note  of  the  Editor,  Du  Cange,  on  the  description  of  the  pall, 
(577.),  contains  various  quotations  from  ecclesiastical  writers, 
which  mention  "  vela  rubea  Serica  "  vela  alba  holoserica 
rasata "  vela  serica  de  blattin."  These  quotations  show? 
that  silk  had  been  introduced  into  general  used  for  the 
churches. 

ISIDORUS  HISPALENSIS,  CL.,  A.  D.  575. 

The  etymological  work  of  Isodore  of  Seville  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  kind  of  encyclopedia,  exhibiting  the  general  state 
of  knowledge  and  art  at  the  time  when  he  wrote.  Hence  the 
following  descriptive  extracts  are  well  deserving  of  attention. 

Bombyx  frondium  vermis,  ex  cujus  texturU  Bombycinum  eonficitnr.  Appel- 
lator autem  hoc  nomine  ab  eo  quod  evaeuetur  dum  fila  general,  et  aer  spins  in  e© 
remanet.    Origin.  I.  xii.  c.  5. 

Bombyx,  a  worm  which  lives  upon  the  leaves  of  trees,  and  from  whose  web 
silk  is  made.  It  is  called  Bombyx,  because  it  empties  itself  in  producing  threads, 
and  nothing  but  air  remains  within  it. 

The  cloth  called  Bombycina,  derives  its  name  from  the  silk-worm  (Bombyx), 
which  emits  very  long  threads  ;  the  web  woven  from  them  is  called  Bombyeinum5 
and  is  made  in  the  island  of  Cos.  . 

That  called  Serica  derives  its  name  from  silk  (sericnm),  ©r  from  the  circum- 
stanoV§  that  is  was  first  obtained  from  the  Seres. 

Ijmoserica  is  all  of  silk :  for  Holon  means  all. 

Jframoserica  has  a  warp  of  linen ;  and  a  woof  (trama)  of  silk. — L.  xix.  c.  22 

Touching  these  extracts  we  would  remark,  that  the  testi- 
mony of  Isidore  must  not  be  considered  as  proving,  that  the 
silk  manufacture  still  existed  in  Cos.  His  statement  was  no 
doubt  merely  copied  from  Varro  or  Pliny,  or  founded  upon  the 
authority  of  other  writers  long  anterior  to  his  own  age.  It  is 
indeed  probable  that  silk-worms  had  by  this  time  been  brought 
into  Greece,  but  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  fact. 


AFTER  ITS  FIRST  INTRODUCTION  INTO  EUROPE.  73 


SEVENTH  CENTURY. 

DOROTHEUS,  ARCHIMANDRITE  OF  PALESTINE,  A.  D.  601. 

"Slvmp  yap  hSeSvfxivos  b\o<yf\piKov. — Dodr.  2,  as  quoted  in  Cod.  Tkeodos.  Gotlw- 
fredi.  L.  Bat.  1665. 

For  as  a  man  wearing  a  tunic  entirely  of  silk. 

THEOPHYLACTUS  SIMOCATTA,  A.  D.  629. 

This  author,  in  his  Universal  History  (I.  vii.  c.  9.),  informs  us 
that  the  silk  manufacture  was  carried  on  at  Chubdan,  with  the 
greatest  skill  and  activity,  which  was  probably  the  same  as 
Khotan,  or,  as  it  was  called  in  his  time,  Ku-tan*. 

We  have,  moreover,  the  following  account  of  the  origin  of 
the  growth  and  manufacture  of  silk  in  that  country  (p.  55, 56.). 

"  The  monastery  of  Lou-che  {occupied  by  Buddhists)  is  to 
the  south-west  of  the  royal  city.  Formerly  the  inhabitants  of 
this  kingdom  had  neither  mulberries  nor  silk-worms.  They 
heard  of  them  in  the  East  country,  and  sent  an  embassy  to  ask 
for  them.  The  King  of  the  East  refused  the  request,  and  is- 
sued the  strictest  injunctions  to  prevent  either  mulberries  or 
silk-worms'  eggs  from  being  conveyed  across  the  border.  Then 
the  King  of  Kiu-sa-tan-na  (i.  e.  Koustana,  or  Khotan)  asked 
of  him  a  princess  in  marriage.  This  having  been  granted,  the 
king  charged  the  officer  of  his  court  who  went  to  escort  her,  to 
say,  that  in  his  country  there  were  neither  mulberry-trees  nor 
cocoons,  and  that  she  must  introduce  them,  or  be  without  silk 
dresses.  The  princess,  having  received  this  information,  ob- 
tained the  seed  both  of  mulberries,  and  silk-worms,  which 
she  concealed  in  her  head-dress.  On  arriving  at  the  frontier, 
the  officers  searched  every  where,  but  dare  not  touch  the  tur- 
ban of  the  princess.  Having  arrived  at  the  spot,  where  the 
monastery  of  Lou-che  was  afterwards  erected,  she  deposited 
the  seed  both  of  the  mulberries  and  worms.  The  trees  were 
planted  in  the  spring,  and  she  afterwards  went  herself  to  assist 
in  gathering  the  leaves.    At  first  the  worms  were  fed  upon  the 


*  Intineraire  de  Hiuan  Thsang,  Appendice  ii.  a  Foe  Koue  Ki,  p.  399. 

10 


74  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK 


leaves  of  other  plants,  and  a  law  was  enacted,  that  no  worms 
were  to  be  destroyed  or  sacrificed  until  their  quantity  was  suffi- 
ciently great.  The  monastery  was  founded  to  commemorate  so 
great  a  benefit,  and  some  trunks  of  the  original  mulberry-trees 
can  yet  be  seen  there*." 

In  the  following  passage  (Reg?ie  Animal,  par  Cuvier,  torn. 
v.  p.  402.,)  Latreille  mentions  Turfan  as  an  important  city  as 
far  as  it  affected  the  early  silk-trade.  In  other  respects  his  ac- 
count coincides  with  that  already  given. 

"  La  ville  de  Turfan,  dans  la  petite  Bucharie,  fut  long-temps  le  rendez-vous 
des  caravanes  venant  de  l'Ouest,  et  l'entrepdt  principal  des  soieries  de  la  Chine. 
Elle  etait  la  metropole  des  Seres  de  1'Asie  superieure,  ou  de  la  Serique  de  Pto- 
le'mee.  Expulses  de  leurs  pays  par  les  Huns,  les  Seres  s'etablirent  dans  le  grande 
Bucharie  et  dans  l'lnde.  C'est  d'une  de  leurs  colonies,  du  Ser-hend  (Ser-indi), 
que  des  missionaires  Grecs  transporterent,  du  temps  de  Justinien,  les  oeufs  du  ver 
a  soie  a  Constantinople." 

The  City  of  Turfan  in  Little  Bucharia  was  for  a  long  time  the  rendezvous  of 
the  caravans  coming  from  the  West,  and  the  principal  market  for  Chinese  silks. 
It  was  the  metropolis  of  the  Seres  of  Upper  Asia,  or  the  Serica  of  Ptolemy.  The 
Seres  having  been  expelled  their  country  by  the  Huns,  established  themselves  in 
Great  Bucharia  and  in  India.  It  is  from  one  of  their  colonies  (of  Ser-indi),  that 
the  Grecian  Missionaries,  in  the  time  of  Justinian,  brought  the  eggs  of  the  silk- 
worm to  Constantinople. 

A  diploma  of  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  mentions  "Ar- 
milausia  holoserica,"  proving  that  silk  was  known  in  England 
at  the  end  of  the  sixth  centuryt.  The  usual  dress  of  the 
earliest  French  kings  seems  to  have  been  a  linen  shirt  and 
drawers  of  the  same  material  next  to  the  skin ;  over  these  a 
tunic,  probably  of  fine  wool,  which  had  a  border  of  silk,  orna- 
mented sometimes  with  gold  or  precious  stones  ;  and  upon  this 
a  sagum,  which  was  fastened  with  a  fibula  on  the  right  shoul- 
der. Eginhart  informs  us,  that  Charlemange  wore  a  tunic,  or 
vest,  with  a  silken  border  (limbo  serico)X. 


*  It  may  be  observed,  that  the  folds  of  the  turban  are  not  unfrequently  used  in 
the  East  to  convey  articles  of  value.  See  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  Asia  Minor,  by 
Charles  Fellows,  London,  1839,  p.  216. 

t  Dugdale's  Monasticon,  vol.  i.  p.  24.  Adelung's  Glossarium  Manuale,  v.  Ar- 
milausia. 

X  Examples  of  it  may  be  seen,  I.  in  the  two  figures  of  Charlemagne,  executed 
in  mosaic  during  his  life-time,  one  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  Penitentiary  of  St. 


AFTER  ITS   FIRST   INTRODUCTION  INTO  EUROPE.  75 
ALDHELMUSj  CL.,  A.  D.  680. 

This  author,  who  died  Abbot  of  Sherburn,  was  among  the 
most  learned  men  of  his  age.  In  his  iEnigmas,  which  are 
written  in  tetrastics,  we  find  the  following  description  of  the 
silk-worm.  As  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  he  could  have  seen 
this  creature,  we  have  cause  to  admire  both  the  ingenuity  and 
general  accuracy  of  his  lines.  The  ascending  to  the  tops  of 
thorns  or  shrubs,  such  as  "  genistae,"  to  which  the  animal  may 
attach  its  cocoon  (globulum),  has  not  been  noticed  by  any 
earlier  author. 

De  Bombycibus. 
Annua  dum  redeunt  texendi  tempora  telas, 
Lurida  setigeris  replentur  viscera  filis  ; 
Moxque  genistarum  frondosa  cacumina  scando, 
Ut  globulus  fabricans  cum  fati  sorte  quiescara. 

Maxima  Bibl.  Vet.  Patrum,  torn.  xiii.  p.  25. 
Soon  as  the  year  brings  round  the  time  to  spin, 
My  entrails  dark  with  hairy  threads  are  fill'd : 
Then  to  the  leafy  tops  of  shrubs  I  climb, 
Make  my  cocoon,  and  rest  by  fate's  decree. 

In  a  book  written  by  this  author,  in  praise  of  virginity,  he 
observes,  That  chastity  alone  did  not  form  an  amiable  and  per- 
fect character,  but  required  to  be  accompanied  and  adorned  by 
many  other  virtues ;  and  this  observation  he  further  illustrates 
by  the  following  simile  taken  from  the  art  of  weaving  :  "  As  it 
is  not  a  web  of  one  uniform  color  and  texture,  without  any 
variety  of  figures,  that  pleaseth  the  eye  and  appears  beautiful, 
but  one  that  is  woven  by  shuttles,  filled  with  threads  of  pur- 
ple, and  many  other  colors,  flying  from  side  to  side,  and 
forming  a  variety  of  figures  and  images,  in  different  com- 
partments, with  admirable  art." — Bibliotheca  Patrum,  torn.  xiii. 

John  Lateran  at  Rome,  and  both  of  these  are  described  by  Spon  in  his  Miscel- 
lanea Eruditse  Antiquitatus  (p.  284.)  ;  II.  in  the  figure  of  Charles  the  Bald,  the 
grandson  of  Charlemagne,  which  is  in  the  splendid  copy  of  the  Latin  Gospels 
made  for  his  use,  now  preserved  in  the  library  at  Munich,  and  which  may  be 
seen  engraved  in  Sanft's  Dissertation  on  that  MS.  (p.  42.)  ;  III.  in  the  figure  of 
an  early  French  king  engraved  from  a  MS.  by  Baluzius  in  his  Capitularia  Re- 
gum  Francorum  (torn.  ii.  p.  1308.) ;  and  IV.  in  the  first  volume  of  Montfaucon's 
Monumens  de  la  Monarchie  Franchise. 


76  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK 


EIGHTH  CENTURY. 

BEDE,  CL.,  A.  D.  701. 

Joseph  autem  mercatus  est  sindonem,  et  deponens  eum  involvit  sindone.  (Marc. 
xv.  46.) — Et  ex  simplici  sepultura  domini  ambitio  divitum  condemnatur,  qui  ne  in 
tumulis  quidem  possunt  carere  divitiis.  Possumus  autem  juxta  intelligentiam  spir- 
italem  hoc  sentire,  quod  corpus  domini  non  auro,  non  gemmis  et  serico,  sed  lintea- 
mine  puro  obvolvendum  sit,  quanquam  et  hoc  significet,  quod  ille  in  sindone  mun- 
da  involvat  Jesum,  qui  pura  eum  mente  susceperit.  Hinc  ecclesiae  mos  obtinuit, 
ut  sacrificium  altaris  non  in  serico,  neque  in  panno  tincto,  sed  in  lino  terreno  cel- 
ebretur,  sicut  corpus  est  domini  in  sindone  munda  sepultum,  juxta  quod  in  gestis 
pontificalibus  a  beato  Papa  Silvestro  legimus  esse  statutum. — Expos,  in  Marcum, 
torn.  v.  p.  207.  Col.  Agrip.  1688. 

But  Joseph  bought  a  linen  cloth,  and,  taking  him  down,  wrapped  him  in  the 
linen  cloth.  (Mark  xv.  46.) — The  simple  burial  of  our  Lord  condemns  the  am- 
bition of  rich  men,  who  cannot  be  without  wealth  even  in  their  tombs.  That  his 
body  is  to  be  wrapped  not  in  gold,  not  in  silk  and  precious  stones,  but  in  pure 
linen,  may  be  understood  by  us  spiritually.  It  also  intimates,  that  he  incloses 
Jesus  in  a  clean  linen  cloth,  who  receives  him  with  a  pure  mind.  Hence  the 
custom  of  the  church  has  obtained,  to  celebrate  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar,  not  in 
silk,  nor  in  dyed  cloth,  but  in  earthy  flax,  as  the  body  of  our  Lord  was  buried  in 
a  clean  linen  cloth  ;  for  so  we  read  in  the  pontifical  acts,  that  it  was  decreed  by 
the  blessed  Pope  Silvester. 

The  latter  portion  of  this  extract,  wherein  we  are  informed 
of  the  origin  of  the  practice,  universally  adopted,  of  covering 
the  Eucharist  with  a  white  linen  cloth,  must  be  a  later  addi- 
tion. Pope  Silvester  lived,  as  the  reader  will  perceive,  long 
after  the  time  of  Bede. 

Bede,  in  his  History  of  the  Abbots  of  Wearmouth,  states 
that  the  first  abbot  and  founder  of  the  monastery,  Biscop,  sur- 
named  Benedict,  went  a  fifth  time  to  Rome  for  ornaments  and 
books  to  enrich  it,  and  on  this  occasion  (A.  D.  685.)  brought 
two  scarfs,  or  palls,  of  incomparable  workmanship,  composed 
entirely  of  silk,  with  which  he  afterwards  purchased  the  land 
of  three  families  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wear*.  This 
shows  the  high  value  of  silken  articles  at  that  period. 

*  Bedae  Hist.  Eccles.  &c.  cura  Jo.  Smith.  Cantab.  1722.  p.  297.  Mr.  Sharon 
Turner,  speaking  of  Bede,  says,  "  His  own  remains  were  inclosed  in  silk.  Mag. 
Bib.  xvi.  p.  88.  It  often  adorned  the  altars  of  the  church  ;  and  we  read  of  a  pres- 
ent to  a  West-Saxon  bishop  of  a  casula,  not  entirely  of  silk,  but  mixed  with  goat's 


AFTER  ITS  FIRST  INTRODUCTION  INTO  EUROPE.  77 


TENTH  CENTURY. 

About  the  year  970  Kenneth,  king  of  Scotland,  paid  a  visit 
in  London  to  Edgar,  king  of  England.  The  latter  sovereign, 
to  evince  at  once  his  friendship  and  munificence,  bestowed  upon 
his  illustrious  guest  silks,  rings,  and  gems,  together  with  one 
hundred  ounces  of  pure  gold*. 

Perhaps  we  may  refer  to  the  same  date  the  composition  of 
the  "  Lady  of  the  Fountain,"  a  Welsh  tale,  recently  translated 
by  Lady  Charlotte  Guestt.  At  the  opening  of  this  poem  King 
Arthur  is  represented  sitting  in  his  chamber  at  Caer-leon  upon 
Usk.    It  is  said, 

In  the  centre  of  the  chamber,  King  Arthur  sat  upon  a  seat  of  green  rushes, 
over  which  was  spread  a  covering  of  flame-colored  satin,  and  a  cushion  covered 
with  the  same  material  was  under  his  elbow. 

The  mention  of  silk  and  satin  is  frequent  in  this  tale. 

GERBERT,  CL.,  A.  D.  970. 

This  author,  who  became  Pope  Silvester,  mentions  garments 
of  silk  (sericas  vestes)  in  a  passage  which  has  been  already 
quoted  (see  Part  II.  chap.  V.). 

TWELFTH  CENTURY. 

THEODORUS  PRODROMUS, 

a  romance  writer  in  the  twelfth  century,  mentions  the  figured 
shawls  (ir'nrXa)  manufactured  by  the  Seres. 

The  breeding  of  silk-worms  in  Europe  appears  to  have  been 
confined  to  Greece  from  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Justinian 
until  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.    The  manufacture 


wool."  Ibid.  p.  50.  He  refers  to  p.  97.  of  the  same  volume,  as  mentioning  "  pal- 
lia holoserica." — History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  iii.  book  vii.  chap.  4.  p.  48,  49 

*  Lingard's  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  i.  241.    London,  1819,  4to. 

t  The  Mabinogion,  from  the  Llyfr  Coch  o  Hergest  and  other  ancient  Welsh 
manuscripts ;  with  an  English  translation  and  notes.  By  Lady  Charlotte  Guest. 
Part  I.    The  Lady  of  the  Fountain.    Llandovery,  1838. 


78  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK 


of  silk  was  also  very  rare  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  being  prob- 
ably practised  only  as  a  recreation  and  accomplishment  for 
ladies.  But  in  the  year  1148  Roger  I.,  King  of  Sicily,  having 
taken  the  cities  of  Corinth,  Thebes,  and  Athens,  thus  got  into 
his  power  a  great  number  of  silk-weavers,  took  them  away 
with  the  implements  and  materials  necessary  for  the  exercise 
of  their  art,  and  forced  them  to  reside  at  Palermo*.  Nicetas 
Choniatest,  referring  to  the  same  event,  speaks  of  these  arti- 
sans as  of  both  sexes,  and  remarks  that  in  his  time  those  who 
went  to  Sicily  might  see  the  sons  of  Thebans  and  Corinthians 
employed  in  weaving  velvet  stoles  interwoven  with  gold,  and 
serving  like  the  Eretrians  of  old  among  the  Persians^ 

We  find  in  the  writings  of  Ingulphus  several  curious  ac- 
counts of  vestments  of  silk,  interwoven  with  eagles  and  flowers 
of  gold.  This  author,  in  his  history,  mentions  that  among 
other  gifts  made  by  Witlaf,  king  of  Mercia,  to  the  abbey  of 
Croyland,  he  presented  a  golden  curtain,  embroidered  with 
the  siege  of  Troy,  to  be  hung  up  in  the  church  on  his  birth- 
day§.  At  a  later  period,  1155,  a  pair  of  richly  worked  san- 
dals, and  three  mitres,  the  work  of  Christina,  abbess  of  Mark- 
gate,  were  among  the  valuable  souvenirs  presented  by  Robert, 
abbot  of  St.  Albans,  to  Pope  Adrian  IV. II. 


*  Otto  Frisingen,  Hist.  Imp.  Freder.  1.  i.  c.  33.  in  Muratori,  Rerum  Itaiicarum 
Scriptores,  torn.  vi.  p.  668. 

t  In  Manuel  Comnenus,  1.  ii.  c.  8.,  torn.  xii.  of  the  Scriptores  Hist.  Byzantina?, 
p.  51.  ed.  Ven. 

X  Hugo  Falcandus,  who  visited  this  manufactory  A.  D.  1169,  represents  it  as 
being  then  in  the  most  flourishing  condition,  producing  great  quantities  of  silks, 
both  plain  and  figured,  of  many  different  colors,  and  enriched  with  gold 

§  Ingulphus,  p.  487,  edit.  1596. 

||  Adrian  IV.,  was  the  only  Englishman  that  ever  sat  in  St.  Peter's  chair.  His 
name  was  Nicolas  Breakspear :  he  was  born  of  poor  parents  at  Langley,  near  St. 
Albans.  Henry  II.,  on  his  promotion  to  the  papal  chair,  sent  a  deputation  of  an 
abbot  and  three  bishops  to  congratulate  him  on  his  election ;  upon  which  occasion 
he  granted  considerable  privileges  to  the  abbey  of  St.  Albans.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  presents  named  above,  he  refused  all  the  other  valuable  ones  which 
were  offered  him,  saying  jocosely, — "  I  will  not  accept  your  gifts,  because  when 
I  wished  to  take  the  habit  of  your  monastery  you  refused  me."  To  which  the 
abbot  pertinently  and  smartly  replied, — "  It  was  not  for  us  to  oppose  the  will  of 
Providence,  which  had  destined  you  for  greater  things." 


AFTER  ITS  FIRST  INTRODUCTION  INTO  EUROPE.  79 

Without  digressing  from  our  subject  to  question  the  right 
of  the  royal  marauder  thus  tyrannously  to  sever  these  unof- 
fending artisans  from  the  ties  of  country  and  of  kindred,  we 
may  yet  be  allowed  to  express  some  satisfaction  at  the  conse- 
quences of  his  cruelty.  It  is  well  for  the  interests  of  humanity 
that  blessings,  although  unsought  and  remote,  do  sometimes 
follow  in  the  train  of  conquest ;  that  wars  are  not  always  lim- 
ited in  their  results  to  the  exaltation  of  one  individual,  the 
downfall  of  another,  the  slaughter  of  thousands,  and  misery 
of  millions,  but  occasionally  prove  the  harbingers  of  peaceful 
arts,  heralds  of  science,  and  in  short  deliverers  from  the  yoke 
of  slavery  or  superstition. 

In  twenty  years  from  this  forcible  establishment  of  the  man- 
ufacture, the  silks  of  Sicily  are  described  as  having  attained  a 
decided  excellence  ;  as  being  of  diversified  patterns  and  colors  ; 
some  fancifully  interwoven  with  gold— tastefully  embellished 
with  figures  ;  and  others  richly  adorned  with  pearls.  The  in- 
dustry and  ingenuity  thus  called  forth,  could  not  fail  to  exer- 
cise a  beneficial  influence  over  the  character  and  condition  of 
the  Sicilians. 

From  Palermo  the  manufacture  of  silk  extended  itself 
through  all  parts  of  Italy  and  into  Spain.  We  learn  from 
Roger  de  Hoveden,  that  the  manufacture  flourished  at  Alme- 
ria  in  Grenada  about  A.  D.  1190*. 

FOURTEENTH  CENTURY. 

According  to  Nicholas  Tegrinif,  the  silk  manufacture  after- 
wards flourished  in  Lucca  ;  and  the  weavers,  having  been 
ejected  from  that  city  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, carried  their  art  to  Venice,  Florence,  Milan,  Bologna,  and 
even  to  Germany,  France,  and  Britain. 

We  have  seen  from  different  historical  testimonies,  that  silk 
was  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  France  and  England  as  early 
as  the  sixth  century.   The  fact  of  its  introduction  into  all  parts 


*  "  Deinde  per  nobilem  civitatem,  qua?  dicitur  Almaria,  ubi  fit  nobile  sericum  et 
delicatum,  quod  dicitur  sericum  de  Almaria."    Scriptores  post  Bedam,  p.  671. 
t  Vita  Castruccii,  in  Muratori,  Rer.  Ital.  Scriptores,  t.  xi.  p.  1320. 


80  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


of  the  North  of  Europe  is  manifest  from  the  use  of  words  for 
silk  in  several  northern  languages.  These  words  appear,  ac- 
cording to  the  inquiries  of  the  learned  orientalists,  Klaproth 
and  Abel  Remusat*,  to  have  been  derived  from  those  Asiatic 
countries,  in  which  silk  was  originally  produced.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  Corea  silk  is  called  Sir  ;  in  Chinese  Se,  which  may 
have  been  produced  by  the  usual  omission  of  the  final  r.  In 
the  Mongol  language  silk  is  called  Sirkek,  in  the  Mandchou 
Sirghe.  In  the  Armenian  the  silk-worm  is  called  Cheram. 
In  Arabic,  Chaldee,  and  Syriac,  silk  was  called  Serict.  From 
the  same  source  we  have  in  Greek  and  Latin  Svpurdy,  Sericum. 

In  the  more  modern  European  languages  we  find  two  sets 
of  terms  for  silk,  the  first  evidently  derived  from  the  oriental 
Seric,  but  with  the  common  substitution  of  I  for  r,  the  second 
of  an  uncertain  origin.    To  the  first  set  belong, 

Chelkj  silk,  in  Slavonian. 

Silke,   in  Suio-Gothic  and  Icelandic!. 

Silcke,   in  Danish. 

Siolc  or  Seolc,  silk,  in  Anglo-Saxon.    Also  Siolcen  or 

Seolcen,  silken  ;  Gal  reolcen, 
Holosericus  ;  Seolcpynm,  silk- 
worm §. 


*  Journal  Asiatique,  1823,  torn.  ii.  p.  246.  Julius  Klaproth  (Tableau  Historique 
de  1'Asie,  Paris,  1826,  p.  57,  58.)  says,  that  in  the  year  165  B.  C.  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  called  by  us  Tangut,  who  constituted  a  powerful  kingdom, 
were  attacked  by  the  Hioung  Nou,  and  driven  to  the  West,  where  they  fixed 
themselves  in  Transoxiana,  and  that  these  events  led  to  an  uninterrupted  com- 
munication with  Persia  and  India,  especially  in  regard  to  the  silk  trade.  Klap- 
roth considers  that  the  Seres  of  the  ancients  were  the  Chinese  ;  but  he  appears  to 
include  under  that  term  all  the  nations  which  were  brought  into  subjection  to  the 
Chinese. 

Professor  Karl  Ritter  (Erdkunde,  Asien,  Band  iv.  2  te  Auflage,  Berlin,  1835, 
p.  437.)  observes,  in  allusion  to  the  authority  just  quoted,  that  all  the  names  of 
the  silk -worm  and  its  products  are  to  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  (which 
he  considers  the  true  one)  that  they  were  first  known  and  cultivated  in  China, 
and  from  thence  extended  through  central  Asia  into  Europe-. 

t  See  Schindler's  Pentaglott,  p.  1951,  D. 

t  Silki  trojo  ermalausa,  a  silk  tunic  without  sleeves.  Knitlynga  Saga,  p.  114, 
as  quoted  by  Ihre,  Glossar.  Suio-Goth.  v.  Armalausa. 

§  iElfric's  Glossary  (made  in  the  tenth  century),  p.  68.  Appendix  to  Sumner's 
Dictionary. 


AFTER  ITS  FIRST  INTRODUCTION  INTO  EUROPE.  81 


Silk,  silk,  in  English*. 

Sirig,   in  Welsht. 

To  the  second  set  belong, 
Seda,  silk,  in  the  Latin  of  the  middle  ages. 

Seta,      -   in  Italian. 

Seide,   in  German. 

Side,   in  Anglo-Saxon.     Also  Sidene, 

silken,  iElfric  as  quoted  by  Lye ; 
Sidpypm,  silk-worm,  Junius,  1.  c. 

Sidan,   in  Welsh. 

Satin,   in  French  and  English}:. 


According  to  Abel  Remusat  {Journal  Asiat.  I.  c.)  the  mer- 
chandise of  Eastern  Asia  passed  through  Slavonia  to  the  North 
of  Europe  in  the  middle  ages,  even  without  the  mediation  of 
Greece  or  Italy.  This  may  account  for  the  use  of  the  terms 
of  the  first  class,  while  it  is  possible  that  those  of  the  second 
have  been  derived  from  the  South  of  Europe,  from  whence  we 
have  seen  that  silken  commodities  were  also  occasionally  trans- 
ported to  the  North. 

To  the  evidence  now  produced  from  authors  and  'printed 
documents  respecting  the  history  of  silk  from  the  earliest  times 
to  the  period  of  its  universal  extension  throughout  Europe,  an- 
other species  of  proof  may  be  added,  viz.  that  afforded  by  Relics 
preserved  in  churches,  and  by  other  remains  of  the  antiquities 
of  the  middle  ages.  As  examples  of  this  method  for  illustrating 
the  subject,  the  following  articles  may  be  enumerated. 

I.  The  relics  of  St.  Regnobert,  Bishop  of  Bayeux  in  the 
seventh  century.  These  consist  of  a  Casula,  or  Chasuble,  a 
Stole,  and  a  Maniple.  They  are  yet  preserved  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  Bayeux,  and  worn  by  the  Bishop  on  certain  annual  fes- 


*  Nicholas  Fuller  (Miscellanea,  p.  248.)  justly  observes,  Vocabulum  Anglica- 
num  Selk  non  nisi  Sericum  authorem  generis  sui  agnoscit.  Selk  enim  nuncupa- 
tum  est  quasi  Selik  pro  Serik,  literae  r  in  1  facili  commutatione  facta. 

Minshew  and  Skinner  give  the  same  etymology. 

t  Junius,  Etymologicum,  v.  Silk.  It  appears  doubtful,  however,  whether  Ju- 
nius is  here  to  be  depended  on. 

t  Menage,  Diction.  Etym.  de  la  Langue  Franchise,  torn.  ii.  p.  457,  ed.  Joult. 

11 


82  CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK 


tivals.  They  are  of  silk  interwoven  with  gold,  and  adorned 
with  pearls*. 

if.  Portions  of  garments  of  the  same  description  with  those 
of  St.  Regnobert  were  discovered  A.  D.  1827  on  opening  the 
tomb  of  St.  Cuthbert  in  the  Cathedral  of  Durham.  They  are 
preserved  in  the  library  of  that  church,  and  accurately  described 
by  the  Rev.  James  Raine,  the  librarian,  in  a  quarto  volume. 

III.  The  scull-cap  of  St.  Simon,  said  to  have  been  made 
in  the  tenth  century,  and  now  preserved  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Treves.    Its  border  is  interwoven  with  gold. 

In  regard  to  these  interesting  relics,  they  may  with  confi- 
dence be  looked  upon  as  specimens  of  the  manufacture  of  silk 
from  the  seventh  to  the  twelfth  century. 

IV.  In  the  Cathedral  at  Hereford  is  a  charter  of  one  of  the 
Popes  with  the  bull  (the  leaden  seal),  attached  to  it  by  silken 
threads.  Silk  was  early  used  for  this  purpose  in  the  South  of 
Europet.  The  Danish  kings  began  to  use  silk  to  append  the 
waxen  seals  to  their  charters  about  the  year  1000+. 

V.  Silk,  in  the  form  of  velvet,  may  be  seen  on  some  of  the 
ancient  armor  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

VI.  The  binding  of  ancient  manuscripts  affords  specimens 
of  silk.  A  French  translation  of  Ludolphus  Saxo's  Life  of 
Christ  in  four  folio  volumes,  among  Dr.  William  Hunter's 
MSS.  at  Glasgow,  still  has  its  original  binding  covered  with 
red  velvet,  which  is  probably  as  old  as  the  fourteenth  century. 
A  curious  source  of  information  on  the  art  of  book-binding  at 
that  period  is  the  Inventory,  or  Catalogue  of  the  library  col- 
lected by  that  ardent  lover  of  books,  Charles  V.  of  France. 
As  this  catalogue  particularly  describes  the  bindings  of  about 
1200  volumes,  many  of  which  were  very  elaborate  and  splen- 
did, it  enables  us  to  judge  of  the  use  made  of  all  the  most  valu- 
able stuffs  and  materials  which  could  be  employed  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  under  the  head  of  silk  we  find  the  following :  "  soie," 

*  See  John  Spencer  Smythe's  Description  de  la  Chasuble  de  Saint  Regnobert, 
in  the  Proces  Verbal  de  PAcademie  Royale  des  Sciences,  Arts,  et  Belles  Lettres, 
de  la  Ville  de  Caen.  Seance  d'Avril  14,  1820. 

t  Mabillon  de  Re  Diplomatic^,  L  ii.  cap.  19.  §  6. 

X  Diplomatarium  Arna-Magnaeanum,  a  Thorkelin,  torn.  i.  p.  xliv. 


AFTER  ITS  FIRST   INTRODUCTION  INTO  EUROPE.  83 

silk ;  "  veluyau,"  velvet ;  "  satanin,"  satin ;  "  damas,"  damask ; 
"taffetas,"  taffetas;  "camocas;"  "cendal;"  and  "drap  dor," 
cloth  of  gold,  having  probably  a  basis  or  ground  of  silk*. 

From  the  few  examples  of  ancient  Catholic  vestments  that 
have  escaped  destruction,  the  generality  of  persons  are  but 
little  acquainted  with  the  extreme  beauty  of  the  embroidery 
worked  for  ecclesiastical  purposes  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  countenances  of  the  images  were  executed  with  perfect 
expression,  like  miniatures  in  illuminated  manuscripts.  Every 
parochial  church,  previous  to  the  Reformation,  was  furnished 
with  complete  sets  of  frontals  and  hangings  for  the  altars.  One 
of  the  great  beauties  of  the  ancient  embroidery  was  its  appro- 
priate design ;  each  flower,  leaf,  and  device  having  a  signifi- 
cant meaning  with  reference  to  the  festival  to  which  the  vest- 
ment belonged.  Such  was  the  extreme  beauty  of  the  English 
vestments  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  that  Innocent  IV.  for- 
warded bulls  to  many  English  bishops,  enjoining  them  to  send 
a  certain  quantity  of  embroidered  vestments  to  Rome,  for  the 
use  of  the  clergyt. 


*  See  Inventaire  de  l'Ancienne  Biblioteque  due  Louvre,  fait  en  Pannee  1373. 
Paris,  1836,  8vo. 

t  The  art  of  embroidery  seems  to  have  attained  a  higher  degree  of  perfection 
in  France,  than  any  other  country  in  Europe  ; — it  is  not,  however,  so  much  prac- 
tised now.  Embroiderers  formerly  composed  a  great  portion  of  the  working  pop- 
ulation of  the  largest  towns;  laws  were  specially  framed  for  their  protection, 
some  of  which  would  astonish  the  working  people  of  the  present  day.  They 
were  formed  into  a  company  as  early  as  1272,  by  Etienne  Boileau,  Prevot  de 
Paris,  under  their  respective  names  of  "  Brodeurs,  Decoupeurs,  Egratigneurs,  and 
Ohasubiters." 

In  the  last  and  preceding  centuries,  when  embroidery,  as  an  article  of  dress 
both  for  men  and  women,  was  an  object  of  considerable  importance,  the  Ger- 
mans, and  more  particularly  those  of  Vienna,  disputed  the  palm  of  excellence 
with  the  French.  At  the  same  period,  Milan  and  Venice  were  also  celebrated 
for  their  embroidery  ;  but  the  prices  were  so  extravagantly  high,  that  according 
to  Lamarre,  its  use  was  forbidden  by  sumptuary  laws. 


CHAPTER  V, 


SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


HIGH  DEGREE  OF  EXCELLENCE  ATTAINED  IN  THIS  MANUFACTURE. 

Manufacture  of  golden  textures  in  the  time  of  Moses — Homer — Golden  tunics  of 
the  Lydians — Their  use  by  the  Indians  and  Arabians — Extraordinary  display 
of  scarlet  robes,  purple,  striped  with  silver,  golden  textures,  &c,  by  Darius, 
king  of  Persia — Purple  and  scarlet  cloths  interwoven  with  gold — Tunics  and 
shawls  variegated  with  gold — Purple  garments  with  borders  of  gold — Golden 
chlamys — Attalus,  king  of  Pergamus,  not  the  inventor  of  gold  thread — Bostick 
— Golden  robe  worn  by  Agrippina — Caligula  and  Heliogabalus — Sheets  inter- 
woven with  gold  used  at  the  obsequies  of  Nero — Babylonian  shawls  intermixed 
with  gold — Silk  shawls  interwoven  with  gold — Figured  cloths  of  gold  and  Ty- 
rean  purple — Use  of  gold  in  the  manufacture  of  shawls  by  the  Greeks — 
4,000,000  sesterces  (about  $  150,000)  paid  by  the  Emperor  Nero  for  a  Baby- 
lonish coverlet — Portrait  of  Constantius  II. — Magnificence  of  Babylonian  car- 
pets, mantles,  &c. — Median  sindones. 

The  use  of  gold  in  weaving  may  be  traced  to  the  earliest 
times,  but  seems  to  be  particularly  characteristic  of  oriental 
manners. 

It  was  employed  in  connexion  with  woollen  and  linen  thread 
of  the  finest  colors  to  enrich  the  ephod,  girdle,  and  breast-plate 
of  Aaron*.    The  sacred  historian  goes  so  far  as  to  describe  the 


*  "  And  they  shall  take  gold,  and  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen. 
And  they  shall  make  the  ephod  of  gold,  of  blue,  and  of  purple,  of  scarlet,  and 
fine  twined  linen,  with  cunning  work.  It  shall  have  the  two  shoulder-pieces 
thereof  joined  at  the  two  edges  thereof;  and  so  it  shall  be  joined  together.  And 
the  curious  girdle  of  the  ephod,  which  is  upon  it,  shall  be  of  the  same,  according 
to  the  work  thereof;  even  of  gold,  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine 
twined  linen.  And  thou  shalt  take  two  onyx  stones,  and  grave  on  them  the 
names  of  the  children  of  Israel :  six  of  their  names  on  one  stone,  and  the  other 
six  names  of  the  rest  on  the  other  stone,  according  to  their  birth.  With  the  work 
of  an  engraver  in  stone,  like  the  engravings  of  a  signet  shalt  thou  engrave  the 
two  stones  with  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel :  thou  shalt  make  them  to  be 
set  in  ouches  of  gold.  And  thou  shalt  put  the  two  stones  upon  the  shoulders  of 
the  ephod  for  stones  of  memorial  unto  the  children  of  Israel :  and  Aaron  shall 


SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OP  THE  ANCIENTS.  85 

mode  of  preparing  the  gold  to  be  used  in  weaving  :  "  And  they 
did  beat  the  gold  into  thin  plates,  and  cut  it  into  wires,  to  work 
it  in  the  blue,  and  in  the  purple,  and  in  the  scarlet,  and  in  the 
fine  linen,  with  cunning  work." — Ex.  xxxix.  2-8.  The  his- 
torian certainly  does  not  intend  to  describe  the  process  of  wire- 
drawing, nor  probably  the  art  of  making  gold  thread.  It 
seems  likely,  that  neither  of  these  ingenious  manufactures 
were  invented  in  his  time.  The  queen  described  in  Ps.  xiv., 
wears  "  clothing  of  wrought  gold*."  Homer  mentions  "  a  golden 
girdle,"  (Od.  «.  232.  *.  543.).  He  also  describes  an  upper  gar- 
ment, which  Penelope  made  for  Ulysses  before  going  to  Illium. 
On  the  front  part  of  it  a  beautiful  hunting  piece  was  wrought 
in  gold.  It  is  thus  described.  "  A  dog  holds  a  fawn  with  its 
fore  feet,  looking  at  it  as  it  pants  with  fear  and  strives  to  make 
its  escape."  This,  he  says,  was  the  subject  of  universal  admi- 
ration!. 

Pisander,  who  probably  lived  at  the  same  period  with  Homer, 
speaks  of  the  Lydians  as  wearing  tunics  adorned  with  gold. 
Lydus,  who  has  preserved  this  expression  of  the  ancient  cyclic 
poet,  observes  that  the  Lydians  were  supplied  with  gold  from 
the  sands  of  the  Pactolus  and  the  Hermust 

Virgil  also  represents  the  use  of  gold  in  weaving,  as  if  it  had 
existed  in  Trojan  times.  One  of  the  garments  so  adorned  was 
made  by  Dido,  the  Sidonian,  another  by  Andromache,  and  a 
third  was  in  the  possession  of  Anchises§.  In  all  these  instances 
the  reference  is  to  the  habits  of  Phoenice,  Lycia,  or  other  parts 
of  Asia. 

Among  all  the  Asiatics,  none  were  more  remarkable  than 


bear  their  names  before  the  Lord  upon  his  two  shoulders  for  a  memorial.  And 
thou  shalt  make  ouches  of  gold ;  and  two  chains  of  pure  gold  at  the  ends  ;  of 
wreathen  work  shalt  thou  make  them,  and  fasten  the  wreathen  chains  to  the 
ouches.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  breast-plate  of  judgment  with  cunning  work  ; 
after  the  work  of  the  ephod  shalt  thou  make  it ;  of  gold,  of  blue,  and  of  purple, 
and  of  scarlet,  and  of  fine  twined  linen  shalt  thou  make  it." — Ex.  xxviii.  5-15. 

*  "  The  king's  daughter  is  all  glorious  within  :  her  clothing  is  of  wrought 
gold."— Ps.  xlv.  13. 

t  Od.  r.  225-235. 

t  De  Magistratibus  Rom.  L.  iii.  §  64 

§  Mm.  iii.  483. ;  iv.  264. ;  viii.  167. ;  xi.  75. 


86    SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 

the  Persians  for  the  display  of  textures  of  gold,  as  well  as  every 
other  kind  of  luxury  in  dress.  A  tiara  interwoven  with  gold 
was  one  of  the  presents  which  Xerxes  gave  as  an  expression  of 
his  gratitude  to  the  citizens  of  Abdera  {Herod,  viii.  120.). 
The  Indians  also  employed  the  same  kind  of  ornament  (Strabo, 
L.  xv.  c.  i.  §  69.) ;  and  the  Periegesis  (I  881.)  of  Priscian  at- 
tributes the  use  of  it  to  the  Arabians*. 

The  history  of  Alexander  the  Great  affords  frequent  traces 
of  the  use  of  cloth  interwoven  with  gold  in  Persia.  Garments 
made  of  such  cloth  were  among  the  most  splendid  of  the 
spoils  of  Persepolist. 

Justin  (L.  xii.)  says  that  Alexander,  to  avoid  offending  the 
Persians,  ordered  his  principal  attendants  to  adopt  for  their 
dress  "longam  vestem  auream  purpureamque."  The  dress 
prescribed  was  therefore  of  fine  woollen  cloth,  or  probably  of 
silk,  dyed  purple,  and  interwoven  with  gold.  Among  the  vast 
multitudes  which  preceded  the  King  of  Persia  when  he  ad- 
vanced to  oppose  Alexander,  was  the  band  of  ten  thousand 
called  the  Immortals,  whose  dress  was  carried  to  the  '  ne  plus 
ultra'  of  barbaric  splendor,  some  wearing  golden  collars,  others 
"cloth  variegated  with  gold."  Some  idea  of  the  extravagance 
and  pomp  of  the  Persians  on  this  occasion  may  be  formed  from 
the  following  passage,  taken  from  Rollings  "  Ancient  History." 

"  The  order  Darius  observed  in  his  march  was  as  follows.  Before  the  army 
were  carried  silver  altars,  on  which  burned  the  fire,  called  by  them  sacred  and 
eternal ;  and  these  were  followed  by  the  magi,  singing  hymns,  and  365  youths  in 
scarlet  robes.  After  these  proceeded  a  consecrated  car,  drawn  by  white  horses 
and  followed  by  one  of  an  extraordinary  size,  which  they  called  "  The  horse  of  the 
sun."  The  equerries  were  dressed  in  white,  each  bearing  in  his  hand  a  golden 
rod.  Next  appeared  ten  sumptuous  chariots,  enriched  with  curious  sculptures  in 
gold  and  silver  ;  and  then  the  vanguard  of  the  horse,  composed  of  twelve  different 
nations,  in  various  armor.  This  body  was  succeeded  by  those  of  the  Persians, 
called  "  The  Immortals,"  amounting  to  10,000,  who  surpassed  the  rest  of  the 
barbarians  in  the  extravagant  richness  and  splendor  of  their  dress ;  for  they  all 
wore  collars  of  gold,  and  were  clothed  in  robes  of  gold  tissue,  having  large 
sleeves,  garnished  with  precious  stones.    About  thirty  paces  from  them  came  the 


*  In  Europe  the  nearest  approach  to  oriental  habits  in  regard  to  dress  was  made 
by  the  Gauls.  Their  principal  men  wore  collars,  armlets,  and  bracelets  of  gold, 
and  clothes  enriched  with  the  same  metal. — Strabo,  L.  iv.  cap.  4.  §  5. 

t  Diod.  Sic.  L.  xvii.  70.  p.  214.  Weasel. 


SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  87 

king's  relations  or  cousins,  to  the  number  of  15,000,  apparelled  like  women,  and 
more  remarkable  for  the  pomp  of  their  dress  than  the  glitter  of  their  arms  ;  and  af- 
ter these  Darius  attended  by  his  guards,  seated  on  a  chariot,  as  on  a  throne.  The 
chariot  was  enriched,  on  both  sides,  with  images  of  the  gods  in  gold  and  silver ; 
and  from  the  middle  of  the  yoke,  which  was  covered  with  jewels,  rose  two  statues, 
a  cubit  in  height ;  the  one  representing  War,  the  other  Peace,  having  between 
them  a  golden  eagle  with  wings  extended.  The  king  was  attired  in  a  garment 
of  purple  striped  with  silver;  over  which  was  a  long  robe,  glittering  with  gold 
and  precious  stones,  and  whereon  two  falcons  were  represented  as  if  rushing  from 
the  clouds  at  each  other.  Around  his  waist  he  wore  a  golden  girdle,  from  whence 
hung  scimitar,  the  scabbard  of  which  was  covered  with  gems.  On  each  side  of 
Darius  walked  200  of  his  nearest  relations,  followed  by  10,000  horsemen,  whose 
lances  were  plated  with  silver,  and  tipped  with  gold.  After  these  marched  30,000 
foot,  the  rear  of  the  army,  and,  lastly,  400  horses  belonging  to  the  king. 

"  About  100  paces  from  the  royal  divisions  of  the  army  came  Sisygambis,  the 
mother  of  Darius,  seated  on  a  chariot,  and  his  consort  on  another,  with  female  at- 
tendants of  both  queens  riding  on  horseback.  Afterwards  came  fifteen  chariots, 
in  which  were  the  king's  children,  and  their  tutors.  Next  to  these  were  the  royal 
concubines,  to  the  number  of  360,  all  attired  like  so  many  queens.  These  were 
followed  by  600  mules,  and  300  camels,  carrying  the  king's  treasure,  and  guarded 
by  a  body  of  bowmen.  After  these  came  the  wives  of  the  crown  officers,  and  the 
lords  of  the  court ;  then  the  suttlers,  servants  ;  and,  lastly,  a  body  of  light  armed 
troops,  with  their  commanders." 

At  the  nuptials  of  Alexander  purple  and  scarlet  cloths,  in- 
terwoven with  gold,  were  expanded  over  the  guests :  and  a 
pall  of  the  same  description  covered  the  golden  sarcophagus 
made  to  contain  his  body.  Among  the  splendid  ornaments  of 
the  tent  erected  not  long  after  at  Alexandria  by  Ptolemy  Phil- 
adelphus,  there  were  tunics  interwoven  with  gold :  and  in  the 
procession  on  the  same  occasion,  the  colossal  statues  of  Bacchus 
and  his  nurse  Nysa  were  attired ;  the  former  in  a  shawl ;  the 
latter  in  a  tunic  variegated  with  gold.  Probably  we  may  refer 
to  the  same  country  and  age  the  "  golden  tunic"  mentioned  in 
one  of  the  Arundle  marbles  (No.  xxii.  2.).  Also  the  tent  pitch- 
ed by  Arsace  with  hangings  of  gold  and  purple  tissues,  and 
the  robe  of  similar  materials  worn  by  Arsace  herself,  as  de- 
scribed by  Heliodorus  (sEthiop.  vii.),  relate  to  the  customs  of 
the  same  country. 

Another  of  the  successors  of  Alexander,  viz.  Demetrius 
Poliorcetes,  wore  purple  garments  with  borders  of  gold*. 


*  Plutarch,  Demet.  41. 


88    SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 

Themistius  describes  a  portrait  of  one  of  the  kings  of  Persia^ 
who  wore,  together  with  the  tiara  and  the  collar  or  necklace^ 
a  purple  shawl  interwoven  with  gold  {Or at  24.  p.  369.  ed. 
Dindorf.). 

During  the  periods  to  which  the  preceding  evidence  has  allu- 
sion, it  is  not  probable  that  cloth  of  gold  was  in  use  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  except  to  a  very  limited  extent.  Never- 
theless it  does  not  appear  to  have  escaped  the  avidity  for  every 
species  of  excellence,  which  in  early  times  distinguished  the  in- 
habitants of  Magna  Greecia.  For,  when  Pythagoras  became 
a  teacher  of  wisdom  and  philosophy  at  Crotona,  among  other 
lessons  of  frugality  he  persuaded  the  matrons  to  put  off  their 
u  golden  garments"  with  other  fashionable  ornaments,  and  de- 
posit them  in  the  temple  of  Juno  as  offerings  to  the  goddess*. 
In  a  passage  attributed  to  Menander  we  meet  with  the  men- 
tion of  a  "golden  or  purple  chlamys"  as  a  suitable  offering  to 
the  godst.  Hedylus  of  Samos,  a  writer  of  the  same  age,  de- 
scribes a  woman  of  loose  morals,  by  name  Niconoe,  as  wearing 
a  tunic  striped  with  gold  (Brnnck's  Analecta,  i.  483.), 

Attains,  king  of  Pergamus,  is  said  by  Pliny  (L.  viii.  cap.  48.) 
to  have  invented  the  art  of  embroidering  with  gold  threads 
Nevertheless  we  have  seen,  that  gold  was  thus  used  long  before 
the  time  of  Attalus.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  he  es- 
tablished and  maintained  a  great  manufacture  of  these  stuffs 
at  Pergamus ;  thus  contributing  greatly  to  improve  the  art, 
and  bring  these  cloths  into  more  general  use. 

The  next  passage  is  from  Dr.  Bostock's  translation  of  the 
33rd  Book,  ch.  xix.  "  Gold  may  be  spun  or  woven  like  wool7 
without  the  latter  being  mixed  with  it.  We  are  informed  by 
Verrius,  that  Tarquinius  Priscus  rode  in  triumph  in  a  tunic  of 
gold ;  and  we  have  seen  Agrippina,  the  wife  of  the  Emperor 
Claudius,  when  he  exhibited  the  spectacle  of  a  naval  combat, 
sitting  by  him  covered  with  a  robe  made  entirely  of  woven 
gold.    In  what  are  called  the  Attalic  stuffs,  the  gold  is  woven 


*  Justin,  L.  XX.  c.  4. 

t  Menandri  Reliquiae,  a  Meineke,  p.  306.  Bockh,  Gr.  Trag.  Principes,  p.  157. 
$  See  Appendix  A. 


SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  89 

with  some  other  substance.  This  art  was  the  invention  of  one 
of  the  kings  of  Asia." 

In  Book  xxxv.  c.  36.  Pliny  says  that  Zeuxis,  to  display  his 
wealth  at  Olympia,  caused  his  name  to  be  woven  in  gold  in 
the  compartments  of  his  outer  garment. 

Caligula  once  wore  a  tunic  interwoven  with  gold.  Heliogab- 
alus  was  far  more  profuse  in  regard  to  this  kind  of  splendor. 
White  sheets,  interwoven  with  gold,  were  used  at  the  funeral 
obsequies  of  Nero*.  We  may  here  observe,  that  the  use  of  gold 
in  dress  almost  invariably  accompanied  that  of  silk.  The 
same  Emperors  who  took  delight  in  the  one,  indulged  them- 
selves with  the  other  also.  On  the  contrary,  Alexander  Seve- 
rus,  as  we  shall  show  when  treating  of  linen  in  Part  IV.,  was 
economical  in  both  these  respects. 

In  Chapters  II.  and  III.,  we  quoted  several  passages  which 
make  mention  of  cloth  of  gold,  from  Tibullus,  Ovid,  Seneca 
the  Tragedian,  Lucan,  Dio  Cassius,  Claudian,  Virgil,  Gregorius 
Nazienzenus,  and  Basil,  all  of  which  speak  of  cloth  of  gold. 
Ovid  mentions  purple  garments  variously  colored  and  inter- 
woven with  gold,  as  belonging  to  Bacchus. — Met.  iii.  556. 

Publius  Syrus  was  a  writer  of  the  same  period.  In  the  fol- 
lowing fragment  preserved  by  Petronius  Arbiter,  he  compares 
the  train  of  the  peacock  to  Babylonian  stuffs  enriched  with 
gold  and  various  colors : 

Thy  food  the  peacock,  which  displays  his  spotted  train, 
As  shines  a  Babylonian  shawl  with  feather'd  gold  ! 

Shawls,  interwoven  with  gold,  are  mentioned  by  Galent,  and 
by  Valerius  FlaccusJ  ;  also  by  Lucan  in  the  following  passage, 
where  he  is  describing  the  furniture  of  Cleopatra's  palace  (x. 
125,  126.) : 

Part  shines  with  feather'd  gold,  part  sheds  a  blaze 
Of  scarlet,  intermixed  by  Pharian  looms  I 

The  following  passages  also  contain  evidence  on  the  same 
subject. 


*  Suetonius,  Nero,  50. 
X  Auro  depicta  chlamys. 


12 


t  Quoted  in  Chapter  II. 


90    SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


SENECA,  THE  PHILOSOPHER. 

As  yet  figured  cloths  di<?  not  exist :  gold  was  not  woven,  it  was  not  even  ex- 
tracted from  the  ground. — Epist.  91. 

LUCIAN 

descn)>es  the  tragic  actors,  when  they  performed,  the  part  of 
king*?,  as  wearing  a  chlamys  interwoven  with  gold*. 

APULEIUS. 

They  carefully  spread  over  the  couches,  cloths  figured  with  gold  and  Tyrian 
purple. — Met. 

PHILOSTRATUS 

depicts  Midas  wearing  a  golden  robet. 

NEM  ESI  ANUS. 
In  thy  scarf's  woof  much  sportive  gold  display. — Cyneg.  91. 

The  poet  is  addressing  Diana  and  describing  her  attire. 

AUSONIUS. 
Weave  flexile  gold  within  thy  shawls,  O  Greecet. 

This  is  the  first  passage  since  the  time  of  Homer,  which  men- 
tions Greece  as  concerned  in  weaving  with  gold.  But  Auso- 
nius  probably  alluded  to  the  Greeks  of  Asia  Minor,  as,  besides 
the  evidence  produced  from  Basil,  we  have  seen  that  Pergamus 
was  one  of  the  most  noted  places  for  these  productions,  which 
were  on  that  account  called  "  Attalicae  vestes§." 

*  S omnium,  vol.  ii.  p.  742.  ed.  Hemsterhusii. 

t  Imag.  i.  22.  \  Epigram  37. 

§  "  I  find  evidence  that  kings  wore  the  striped  toga  ;  that  figured  cloths  were 
in  use  even  in  the  days  of  Homer ;  and  that  these  gave  rise  to  the  triumphal. 
To  produce  this  effect  with  the  needle  was  the  invention  of  the  Phrygians,  on 
which  account  cloths  so  embroidered  have  been  called  Phrygionic.  In  the  same 
part  of  Asia  king  Attalus  discovered  the  art  of  inserting  a  woof  of  gold  (?) ;  from 
which  circumstance  the  Attalic  cloths  received  their  name  ('?).  Babylon  first  ob- 
tained celebrity  by  its  method  of  diversifying  the  picture  with  different  colors, 
and  gave  its  name  to  textures  of  this  description.  But  to  weave  with  a  great 
number  of  leashes,  so  as  to  produce  the  cloths  called  polymita  (the  polymita  were 
damask  cloths),  was  first  taught  in  Alexandria ;  to  divide  by  squares  (^plaids)  in 


SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  91 


When  Ausonius  was  appointed  Consul  at  Rome  A.  D.  379? 
his  friend  and  former  pupil,  the  Emperor  Gratian,  sent  him  as 
a  present  a  toga  in  which  was  inserted  a  figure  of  Constantius 
II.,  wrought  in  gold. — Ausonii  Gratiarum  Actio,  §  53. 

CLAUDIAN 

mentions  with  delight  the  use  of  gold  in  dress  as  well  as  of 
silk.  His  testimony  has  been  given  in  chapter  III.  of  this 
Part. 

SIDONIUS  APOLLINARIS 

mentions  the  gold  in  the  dress  of  Prince  Sigismer.  His  testi- 
mony is  also  given  in  chapter  III. 

CORIPPUS, 

describing  the  accession  of  Justin  II.  to  the  Empire  (A.  D.  565), 
mentions  (L.  ii.)  his  tunic  enriched  with  gold  as  part  of  his  im- 
perial costume. 

PAULINUS. 

Misceturque  ostro  mollitum  in  fila  metellum. 

De  Vita  Martini,  L.  iii. 

We  find  the  following  law  in  the  Codex  Justinianus : 

Nemo  vir  auratas  in  tunicis  aut  in  lincis  habeat  paragaudas :  nisi  hi  tantum- 
modo,  quibus  hoc  propter  Imperiale  ministerium  concessum  est. 

Corpus  Juris  Civilis,  torn.  v.  tit.  viii.  leg.  2. 

The  "  aurata  paragauda "  was  a  border  of  gold  lace  or 
thread.  It  appears  that  ladies  might  wear  it  on  their  tunics, 
while  men  were  only  permitted  to  use  it  in  token  of  their  of- 
ficial character  as  being  in  the  service  of  the  emperor.  In  al- 
lusion to  these  or  similar  regulations,  iElius  Lampridius  (34) 
says  of  the  emperor  Alexander  Severus, 


Gaul.  Metellus  Scipio  brought  it  as  an  accusation  against  Cato,  that  even  in  his 
time  Babylonian  coverlets  for  triclinia  were  sold  for  800,000  sesterces  (about 
$30,000),  although  the  emperor  Nero  lately  gave  for  them  no  less  than  4,000,000 
sesterces  (about  $150,000).  The  prcetexta  of  Servius  Tullius,  covering  the  stat- 
ue of  Fortune  which  he  dedicated,  remained  until  the  death  of  Sejanus,  and  it  is 
wonderful  that  they  had  neither  decayed  of  themselves  nor  been  injured  by  moths 
during  the  space  of  560  years." — Plin.  H.  N.  viii.  64.    (See  Appendix  A.) 


92    SILK  AND  GOLDEN  TEXTURES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 
Aiiratani  vestem  ministerium  nullus  vel  in  publico  convivio  habuit. 

v  The  testimony  of  Ambrose,  Jerome,  and  Basil  has  been 
given  AnjCharpler  III.,  which  see. 

From  the  book  of  Joshua  we  learn  that  the  woven  stuffs  of 
Babylon  were  not  confined  to  domestic  use,  but  exported  into 
foreign  countries.  The  two  chief  productions  of  Babylonian 
looms  were  carpets  and  shawls.  One  of  the  principal  objects 
of  luxury  in  Asia  from  the  remotest  ages,  were  nowhere  so 
finely  woven,  and  in  such  rich  colors  as  at  Babylon.  On  the 
Babylonian  carpets  were  woven  or  depicted  representations  of 
those  fabulous  animals  the  dragon  and  griffin,  together  with 
other  unnatural  combinations  of  form,  probably  originating  in 
India,  and  with  which  we  have  become  acquainted  by  the 
ruins  of  Persepolis.  It  was  by  means  of  the  Babylonian  man- 
ufactures, that  the  knowledge  of  these  fanciful  and  imaginary 
beings,  was  conveyed  to  the  Western  world,  and  from  them 
transferred  to  the  Greek  vases.  "  A  mantle  of  Shinar,"  or  as 
our  translators  have  rendered  it,  "  A  Babylonish  garment," 
was  secreted  by  Achan  from  the  spoils  of  Jericho  ;  and  the 
delinquent  speaks  of  this  as  being  the  most  valuable  part  of  his 
plunder*.  Next  to  carpets  and  shawls,  the  Babylonian  garments 
called  Sindones  were  held  in  the  highest  estimation.  The 
most  costly  Shido?ies,  were  so  much  valued  for  their  fineness 
of  texture  and  brilliancy  of  color,  as  to  be  compared  to  those  of 
Media,  and  set  apart  for  royal  use  ;  they  were  even  to  be  found 
at  the  tomb  of  Cyrus,  which  was  profusely  decorated  with  every 
species  of  furniture  in  use  among  the  Persian  monarchs  during 
their  lives. 


*  "  When  I  saw  among  the  spoils  a  goodly  Babylonish  garment,  and  two 
hundred  shekels  of  silver,  and  a  wedge  of  gold  of  fifty  shekels  weight,  then  I 
coveted  them,  and  took  them,  and  behold,  they  are  hid  in  the  earth  in  the  midst 
of  my  tent,  and  the  silver  under  it." — Joshua  vii.  21, 


.Platen 


CHAPTER  VI, 

SILVER  TEXTURES,  &c,  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 

EXTREME   BEAUTY  OF  THESE  MANUFACTURES. 

Magnificent  dress  worn  by  Herod  Agrippa,  mentioned  in  Acts  xii.  21 — Josephus's 
account  of  this  dress,  and  dreadful  death  of  Herod — Discoveiy  of  ancient  Piece- 
goods — Beautiful  manuscript  of  Theodolphus,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  who  lived  in 
the  ninth  century — Extraordinary  beauty  of  Indian,  Chinese,  Egyptian,  and 
other  manufactured  goods  preserved  in  this  manuscript — Egyptian  arts — Wise 
regulations  of  the  Egyptians  in  relation  to  the  arts — Late  discoveries  in  Egypt 
by  the  Prussian  hierologist,  Dr.  Lepsius — Cloth  of  glass. 

The  Evangelist  Luke,  in  Acts  xii.  21.  speaks  of  the  "  royal 
apparel,"  in  which  Herod  Agrippa,  king  of  Judea,  was  arrayed 
when  he  received  the  ambassadors  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  sitting 
in  great  state  upon  his  throne  at  Caesarea.  "  And  upon  a  set 
day,  Herod  arrayed  in  royal  apparel,  sat  upon  his  throne,  and 
made  an  oration  unto  them.  And  the  people  gave  a  shout, 
saying,  It  is  the  voice  of  a  god,  and  not  of  a  man.  And  im- 
mediately the  angel  of  the  Lord  smote  him,  because  he  gave 
not  God  the  glory :  and  he  was  eaten  of  worms,  and  gave  up 
the  ghost." 

Josephus  describes  the  same  garment,  which  was  a  tunic, 
as  "all  made  of  silver,  and  wonderful  in  its  texture."  He 
adds,  that  the  king  appeared  in  this  dress  at  break  of  day  in 
the  theatre,  and  that  the  silver,  illuminated  by  the  first  rays 
of  the  sun,  glittered  in  such  a  manner  as  to  terrify  the  behold- 
ers, so  that  his  flatterers  began  to  call  out  aloud,  saluting  him 
as  a  god.  He  was  then  seized  with  the  painful  and  loath- 
some distemper of  which  he  soon  after  died*^ 

We  extract  the  following  curious  account  of  the  discovery 
of  Ancient  Piece-goods  and  manufactured  stuffs  from  a  late 


*  Ant.  Jud.  L.  xix.  cap.  8.  §  2.  p.  871.  Hudson. 


94  SILVER  TEXTTIRES,  ETC.  OF  THE  ANCIENTS 

number  of  an  English  publication  called  the  "  Mining  Re- 
view." 

Discovery  of  ancient  Piece-goods  and  manufactured  stuffs. — 
"  It  is  more  than  a  thousand  years  since  Theodolphus,  Bishop 
of  Orleans,  gave  to  Notre  Dame  du  Puy  en  Velay  a  beautiful 
manuscript,  containing  the  ancient  Testament,  the  chronogra- 
phy  of  St.  Isidor,  and  other  pieces,  the  whole  distributed  into 
138  articles  ;  which  he  presented  in  token  of  gratitude  for  his 
deliverance  from  the  prison  of  Angers,  where  he  was  confined 
in  the  year  835.  It  was  on  Palm  Sunday  that  year,  while 
Louis  Le  Debonnaire  was  passing,  that  he  began  to  sing  a 
well-known  Canticle,  which  the  Catholic  church  has  since 
then  introduced  into  its  ceremonies.  This  precious  manu- 
script, in  a  state  of  perfect  preservation,  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
archives  of  the  Bishopric  of  the  Puy  en  Velay,  department  of 
the  Haute  Loire.  A  portion  of  the  manuscript  is  written  on 
leaves  of  common  parchment,  in  letters  of  red  and  black,  with 
a  few  of  gold  intermixed.  The  other  portion  is  inscribed  on 
leaves  of  parchment,  dyed  purple,  with  letters  of  gold  and 
silver,  among  which  are  observed,  ornaments  of  different  kinds 
and  colors,  designated  the  " Byzantine  style"  The  manu- 
script, remarkable  for  its  beauty  and  preservation,  is  still  more 
valuable  for  the  manufactured  stuffs  which  it  contains.  When 
Theodolphus  composed  his  manuscript,  with  the  intention  of 
preserving  from  contact  and  friction  the  gold  and  silver  char- 
acters (which,  in  time,  would  have  tended  to  displace  and  ob- 
literate them),  he  placed  between  each  page  a  portion  of  the 
manufactured  tissues  peculiar  to  the  era  in  which  he  lived. 
These  specimens  of  the  silk,  and  other  pieces  of  goods  of  the 
time  are  thus  curiously  preserved*.  Till  lately,  little  attention 
was  paid  to  these  tissues,  which  are  principally  of  India  man- 
ufacture, bearing  scarcely  any  analogy  to  the  products  of  the 
modem  loom.  Some  are  CASHMERE  SHAWLS  of  those 
patterns,  which  the  French  call  broucha  and  espouline,  and  are 

*  A  shred  of  gold  cloth  is  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Antiquities  at  Leyden, 
which  is  supposed  to  have  been  discovered  in  one  of  the  ancient  tombs  at  Tar- 
quinia  in  Etruria.  In  this  tissue  the  gold  forms  a  compact  covering  over  bright 
yellow  silk. 


SILVER  TEXTURES,  ETC.,  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  95 

made  in  the  Indian  fashion,  but  with  this  difference,  that  they 
are  limited  to  four  colors,  and  demonstrate  the  greatest  anti- 
quity by  the  primitive  simplicity  of  their  colors  and  design. 
Others  are  CRAPES  and  GAUZES,  against  the  luxury  of 
whose  transparent  tissues,  the  fathers  of  the  church  at  that 
time  so  perseveringly  fulminated  their  censures.  The  rest 
consist  of  muslins  and  China-crape  of  exquisite  beauty. 
The  components  of  the  majority  of  these  tissues  are  of  goats' 
or  camels'  hair  of  exceeding  delicacy  and  fineness.  Like  the 
manufactured  stuffs  of  ancient  Egypt,  painted  on  the  walls  of 
its  palaces  and  tombs,  or  substantially  preserved  amidst  the 
envelopes  of  mummies,  the  designs  are  limited  to  four  colors, 
which  are  in  fact  the  four  sacred  ones  of  China,  India, 
Egypt,  and  the  Hebrew  Tabernacle.  Nevertheless,  the 
Egyptian  designs,  identical  with  those  of  India,  are  many 
of  them  of  exquisite  beauty.  The  consummate  skill  of  the 
silk  and  cotton  manufacturers  of  ancient  Egypt,  4000  years 
ago,  the  beauty  and  richness  of  their  fabrics — the  little  alter- 
ation which  has  taken  place  in  the  economy  or  machinery  of 
the  factories,  as  well  as  in  their  product,  has  been  recently  dem- 
onstrated in  the  great  work  of  Champollion.  All  the  details 
of  the  silk  and  cotton  factories  of  Egypt,  under  the  Pharaohs 
of  the  18th  dynasty  (which  then  monopolized  the  commerce 
of  the  world,  and  sent  a  colony  of  weavers,  from  the  overbur- 
thened  population  of  Lower  Egypt,  to  found  Athens,  and  the 
subsequent  civilization  of  Europe),  are  laid  open  with  vivid  ac- 
curacy in  that  splendid  work*,  and  brought  with  all  their  start- 
ling analogies  before  the  eye  of  the  modern  reader  by  drawings 
from  the  temples,  palaces,  and  tombs  which  it  contains.  It 
proves,  indeed,  that  there  is  "  nothing  new  under  the  sun." 

That  the  Egyptians  excelled  in  science  and  art  is  evident 
from  their  monuments,  paintings,  and  sculptures,  whereon  they 
are  depicted.  It  is  also  proved  by  Scripture,  which  speaks  of 
the  "  wisdom  of  Egypt"  with  reference  to  art ;  and  from  the 
fact  that  Egypt  was  deemed  by  other  nations  the  fountain  of 
arts  and  sciences,  and  that  their  philosophers  were  wont  to  re- 


*  See  Plate  II. 


96         SILVER  TEXTURES,  ETC.,   OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 

sort  thither  to  collect  some  of  the  "  droppings  of  Egyptian  wis- 
dom." According  to  Diodorus,  all  trades  vied  with  each  other 
in  improving  their  own  particular  branch,  no  pains  being 
spared  to  bring  each  to  perfection.  To  promote  the  more  effec- 
tually this  object,  it  was  enacted  that  no  artisan  should  follow 
any  trade  or  employment  but  that  defined  by  law,  and  pursued 
by  his  ancestors.  No  tradesman  was  permitted  to  meddle 
with  political  affairs,  or  hold  any  civil  office  in  the  state,  lest 
his  thoughts  should  be  distracted  by  the  inconsistency  of  his 
pursuits,  or  the  jealousy  and  displeasure  of  the  master  in 
whose  service  he  was  employed.  They  foresaw  that  without 
such  a  law  constant  interruptions  would  take  place,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  necessity  or  desire  of  becoming  conspicuous  in  a 
public  station ;  that  their  proper  occupations  would  be  neglected, 
and  many  would  be  led  by  vanity  and  self-sufficiency  to  inter- 
fere in  matters  which  were  out  of  their  sphere.  They  consid- 
ered, moreover,  that  to  pursue  more  than  one  avocation  would 
be  detrimental  to  their  own  interests,  and  those  of  the  commu- 
nity at  large ;  and  that,  when  men,  from  a  motive  of  avarice, 
engage  in  numerous  branches  of  art,  the  general  result  is,  that 
they  are  unable  to  excel  in  any.  If  any  artisan  interfered  in 
political  matters,  or  engaged  in  any  employment  other  than  the 
one  to  which  he  had  been  brought  up,  a  severe  punishment 
was  immediately  inflicted  upon  him. 

The  eminent  German  hierologist,  Dr.  Lepsius,  now  employ- 
ed in  Egypt  by  the  Prussian  government,  after  mentioning,  in 
a  recent  letter,  the  many  discoveries  he  had  made  of  ancient 
ruins,  tombs,  &c,  writes  as  follows : 

"  With  the  exception  of  about  twelve,  which  belong  to  a  later 
period,  all  these  tombs  were  erected  contemporaneously  with,  or 
soon  after,  the  building  of  the  great  pyramid,  and  consequently 
their  dates  throw  an  invaluable  light  on  the  study  of  human 
civilization  in  the  most  remote  period  of  antiquity. — The  sculp- 
tures in  relief  are  surprisingly  numerous,  representing  whole 
figures,  some  the  size  of  life,  and  others  of  various  dimensions. 
The  paintings  are  on  back  grounds  of  the  finest  chalk.  They 
are  numerous  and  beautiful  beyond  conception — as  fresh  and 
perfect  as  if  finished  yesterday!    The  pictures  and  sculp- 


SILVER  TEXTURES,   ETC.,  OF  THE   ANCIENTS.  97 

tures  on  the  walls  of  the  tombs,  represent,  for  the  most  part, 
scenes  in  the  lives  of  the  deceased  persons,  whose  wealth  in 
cattle,  fish-boats,  servants,  &c,  is  ostentatiously  displayed  before 
the  eye  of  the  spectator.  All  this  gives  an  insight  into  the  de- 
tails of  private  life  among  the  ancient  Egyptians.  By  the  help 
of  these  inscriptions  I  think  I  could,  without  difficulty,  make  a 
"  Court  Calendar"  of  the  reign  of  King  Cheops*.  In  some  in- 
stances I  have  traced  the  graves  of  father,  son,  grandson,  and 
even  great-grandson — all  that  now  remains  of  the  distinguished 
families,  which  five  thousand  years  ago,  formed  the  nobility  of 
the  land." 


*  We  do  not  find  in  these  researches,  that  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with 
the  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving  glass,  or  of  giving  it  any  required  shade  of  color. 
This  invention,  therefore,  must  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  the  honor  of  the  discovery  is  due  to  M.  Dubus  Bonnel,  an  ingenious 
Frenchman,  a  native  of  Lille,  and  for  which  he  obtained  patents  in  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  various  countries  of  the  European  continent  in  1837. 

"  When  we  figure  to  ourselves  an  apartment  decorated  with  cloth  of  glass,  and 
resplendent  with  lights,  we  must  be  convinced  that  it  will  equal  in  brilliancy  all 
that  the  imagination  can  conceive  ;  and  realise,  in  a  word,  the  wonders  of  the 
enchanted  palaces  mentioned  in  the  Arabian  tales.  The  lights  flashing  from  the 
polished  surface  of  the  glass,  to  which  any  color  or  shade  may  be  given,  will 
make  the  room  have  the  appearance  of  an  apartment  composed  of  pearls,  mother- 
of-pearl,  diamonds,  garnets,  sapphires,  topazes,  rubies,  emeralds,  or  amethysts, 
&c,  or,  in  short,  of  all  those  precious  stones  united  and  combined  in  a  thousand 
ways,  and  formed  into  stars,  rosettes,  boquets,  garlands,  festoons,  and  graceful  un- 
dulations, varied  almost  ad  infinitum." — L'Echo  du  Monde  Savant,  &c.  No.  58, 
Feb.  15,  1837. — Translated  from  the  French. 

The  warp  is  composed  of  silk,  forming  the  body  and  groundwork  on  which 
the  pattern  in  glass  appears,  as  effected  by  the  weft.  The  requisite  flexibility  of 
glass  thread  for  manufacturing  purposes  is  to  be  ascribed  to  its  extreme  fineness  ; 
as  not  less  than  from  fifty  to  sixty  of  the  original  threads  (spun  by  steam  engine 
power)  are-*equired  to  form  one  thread  of  the  weft.  The  process  is  slow  ;  for  no 
more  than  a  yard  of  cloth  can  be  produced  in  twelve  hours.  The  work,  however, 
is  extremely  beautiful  and  comparatively  cheap,  inasmuch  as  no  similar  stuff*, 
where  bullion  is  really  introduced,  can  be  purchased  for  anything  like  the  price 
for  which  this  is  sold  ;  added  to  this,  it  is,  as  far  as  the  glass  is  concerned,  imper- 
ishable. Glass  is  more  durable  than  either  gold  or  silver,  and,  besides,  possesses 
the  advantage  of  never  tarnishing. 

13 


CHAPTER  VII. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM,  &c. 

Preliminary  observations — The  silk-worm — Various  changes  of  the  silk-worm 
— Its  superiority  above  other  worms — Beautiful  verses  on  the  May-fly,  illustra- 
tive of  the  shortness  of  human  life — Transformations  of  the  silk -worm — Its 
small  desire  of  locomotion — First  sickness  of  the  worm — Manner  of  casting  its 
Exuviae — Sometimes  cannot  be  fully  accomplished — Consequent  death  of  the 
insect — Second,  third,  and  fourth  sickness  of  the  worm — Its  disgust  for  food — 
Material  of  which  silk  is  formed — Mode  of  its  secretion — Manner  of  unwinding 
the  filaments — Floss-silk — Cocoon — Its  imperviousness  to  moisture — Effect  of 
the  filaments  breaking  during  the  formation  of  the  cocoon — Mr.  Robinet's  curi- 
ous calculation  on  the  movements  made  by  a  silk-worm  in  the  formation  of  a 
cocoon — Cowper's  beautiful  lines  on  the  silk-worm — Periods  in  which  its  vari- 
ous progressions  are  effected  in  different  climates — Effects  of  sudden  transitions 
from  heat  to  cold — The  worm's  appetite  sharpened  by  increased  temperature — 
Shortens  its  existence — Various  experiments  in  artificial  heating — Modes  of  ar- 
tificial heating — Singular  estimate  of  Count  Dandolo — Astonishing  increase  of 
the  worm — Its  brief  existence  in  the  moth  state — Formation  of  silk — The  silken 
filament  formed  in  the  worm  before  its  expulsion — Erroneous  opinions  enter- 
tained by  writers  on  this  subject — The  silk-worm's  Will. 

It  can  never  be  too  strongly  impressed  upon  a  mind  anxious 
for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  that  the  commonest  things  by 
which  we  are  surrounded  are  deserving  of  minute  and  careful 
attention.  The  most  profound  investigations  of  Philosophy  are 
necessarily  connected  with  the  ordinary  circumstances  of  our 
being,  and  of  the  world  in  which  our  every-day  life  is  spent. 
With  regard  to  our  own  existence,  the  pulsation  of  the  heart, 
the  act  of  respiration,  the  voluntary  movement  of  our  limbs, 
the  condition  of  sleep,  are  among  the  most  ordinary  operations 
of  our  nature ;  and  yet  how  long  were  the  wisest  of  men  strug- 
gling with  dark  and  bewildering  speculations  before  they  could 
offer  anything  like  a  satisfactory  solution  of  these  phenomena, 
and  how  far  are  we  still  from  an  accurate  and  complete  know- 
ledge of  them  !  The  science  of  Meteorology,  which  attempts 
to  explain  to  us  the  philosophy  of  matters  constantly  before  our 
eyes,  as  dew,  mist,  and  rain,  is  dependent  for  its  illustrations 
upon  a  knowledge  of  the  most  complicated  facts,  such  as  the 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM. 


99 


influence  of  heat  and  electricity  upon  the  air  ;  and  this  know- 
ledge is  at  present  so  imperfect,  that  even  these  common  occur- 
rences of  the  weather,  which  men  have  been  observing  and 
reasoning  upon  for  ages,  are  by  no  means  satisfactorily  explain- 
ed, or  reduced  to  the  precision  that  every  science  should  aspire 
to.  Yet,  however  difficult  it  may  be  entirely  to  comprehend 
the  phenomena  we  daily  witness,  everything  in  nature  is  full 
of  instruction.  Thus  the  humblest  flower  of  the  field,  although, 
to  one  whose  curiosity  has  not  been  excited,  and  whose  under- 
standing has,  therefore,  remained  uninformed,  it  may  appear 
worthless  and  contemptible,  is  valuable  to  the  botanist,  not 
only  with  regard  to  its  place  in  the  arrangement  of  this  portion 
of  the  Creator's  works,  but  as  it  leads  his  mind  forward  to  the 
consideration  of  those  beautiful  provisions  for  the  support  of 
vegetable  life,  which  it  is  the  part  of  the  physiologist  to  study 
and  admire*. 

This  train  of  reasoning  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  econo- 
my of  insects.  They  constitute  a  very  large  and  interesting 
part  of  the  animal  kingdom.  They  are  everywhere  about  us. 
The  spider  weaves  his  curious  web  in  our  houses ;  the  cater- 
pillar constructs  his  silken  cell  in  our  gardens  ;  the  wasp  that 
hovers  over  our  food  has  a  nest  not  far  removed  from  us,  which 
she  has  assisted  to  build  with  the  nicest  art ;  the  beetle  that 
crawls  across  our  path  is  also  an  ingenious  and  laborious  me- 
chanic, and  has  some  curious  instincts  to  exhibit  to  those  who 
will  feel  an  interest  in  watching  his  movements  ;  and  the  moth 
that  eats  into  our  clothes  has  something  to  plead  for  our  pity,  for 
he  came,  like  us,  naked  into  the  world,  and  he  has  destroyed 
our  garments,  not  in  malice  or  wantonness,  but  that  he  may 
clothe  himself  with  the  same  wool  which  we  have  stripped  from 
the  sheep.  An  observation  of  the  habits  of  these  little  crea- 
tures is  full  of  valuable  lessons,  which  the  abundance  of  the 
examples  has  no  tendency  to  diminish.  The  more  such  obser- 
vations are  multiplied,  the  more  we  are  led  forward  to  the  fresh- 
est and  the  most  delightful  parts  of  knowledge ;  the  more  do 


*  "  Insect  Architecture,"  vol.  i.  p.  9.  London  :  Charles  Knight  &  Co.,  Lud- 
gate  St  1845. 


100        CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

we  learn  to  estimate  rightly  the  extraordinary  provisions  and 
most  abundant  resources  of  a  creative  Providence  ;  and  the  bet- 
ter do  we  appreciate  our  own  relations  with  all  the  infinite  va- 
rieties of  Nature,  and  our  dependence,  in  common  with  the 
ephemeron  that  flutters  its  little  hour  in  the  summer  sun,  upon 
that  Being  in  whose  scheme  of  existence  the  humblest  as  well 
as  the  highest  creature  has  its  destined  purposes.  "  If  you 
speak  of  a  stone"  says  St.  Basil,  "if  you  speak  of  a  fly,  a 
gnat,  or  a  bee,  your  conversation  will  be  a  sort  of  demonstra- 
tion of  his  power  whose  hand  formed  them,  for  the  wisdom  of 
the  workman  is  commonly  perceived  in  that  which  is  of  little 
size.  He  who  has  stretched  out  the  Heavens,  and  dug  up  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  is  also  He  who  has  pierced  a  passage  through 
the  sting  of  the  bee  for  the  ejection  of  its  poison." 

If  it  be  granted  that  making  discoveries  is  one  of  the  most 
satisfactory  of  human  pleasures,  then  we  may  without  hesita- 
tion affirm,  that  the  study  of  insects  is  one  of  the  most  delight- 
ful branches  of  natural  history,  for  it  affords  peculiar  facilities 
for  its  pursuit.  These  facilities  are  found  in  the  almost  inex- 
haustible variety  which  insects  present  to  the  curious  observer. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  situation  in  which  the  lover  of  nature 
and  the  observer  of  animal  life  may  not  find  opportunities  for 
increasing  his  store  of  facts.  It  is  told  of  a  state  prisoner  un- 
der a  cruel  and  rigorous  despotism,  that  when  he  was  excluded 
from  all  commerce  with  mankind,  and  was  shut  out  from  books, 
he  took  an  interest  and  found  consolation  in  the  visits  of  a 
spider ;  and  there  is  no  improbability  in  the  story.  The  op- 
erations of  that  persecuted  creature  are  among  the  most  ex- 
traordinary exhibitions  of  mechanical  ingenuity ;  and  a  daily 
watching  of  the  workings  of  its  instinct  would  beget  admira- 
tion in  a  rightly  constituted  mind.  The  poor  prisoner  had 
abundant  leisure  for  the  speculations  in  which  the  spider's  web 
would  enchain  his  understanding.  We  have  all  of  us,  at  one 
period  or  other  of  our  lives,  been  struck  with  some  singular 
evidence  of  contrivance  in  the  economy  of  insects,  which  we 
have  seen  with  our  own  eyes.  Want  of  leisure,  and  probably 
want  of  knowledge,  have  prevented  us  from  following  up  the 
curiosity  which  for  a  moment  was  excited.   And  yet  some  such 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM. 


101 


accident  has  made  men  Naturalists,  in  the  highest  meaning  of 
the  term.  Bonnet,  evidently  speaking  of  himself,  says,  "  I 
knew  a  naturalist,  who,  when  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age, 
having  heard  of  the  operations  of  the  ant-lion,  began  by  doubt- 
ing them.  He  had  no  rest  till  he  had  examined  into  them  ;  and 
he  verified  them,  he  admired  them,  he  discovered  new  facts,  and 
soon  became  the  disciple  and  the  friend  of  the  Pliny  of 
France*"  (Reamur).  It  is  not  the  happy  fortune  of  many  to 
be  able  to  devote  themselves  exclusively  to  the  study  of  nature, 
unquestionably  the  most  fascinating  of  human  employments ; 
but  almost  every  one  may  acquire  sufficient  knowledge  to  be 
able  to  derive  a  high  gratification  from  beholding  the  more  com- 
mon operations  of  animal  life.  His  materials  for  contemplation 
are  always  before  him. 

The  silk-worm  is  a  species  of  caterpillar  which,  like  all  other 
insects  of  the  same  class,  undergoes  a  variety  of  changes  during 
the  short  period  of  its  life ;  assuming,  in  each  of  three  succes- 
sive transformations,  a  form  wholly  dissimilar  to  that  vjith 
which  it  was  previously  invested. 

Among  the  great  variety  of  caterpillars,  the  descriptions  of 
which  are  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  natural  history,  the 
silk- worm  occupies  a  place  far  above  the  rest.  Not  only  is  our 
attention  called  to  the  examination  of  its  various  transforma- 
tions, by  the  desire  of  satisfying  our  curiosity  as  entomologists, 
but  our  artificial  wants  incite  us  likewise  to  the  study  of  its  na- 
ture and  habits,  that  we  may  best  and  most  profitably  apply  its 
instinctive  industry  to  our  own  advantage. 

It  has  been  well  observed  by  Pullein,  a  writer  on  this  subject, 
that  "  there  is  scarcely  anything  among  the  various  wonders 
which  the  animal  creation  affords,  more  admirable  than  the 
variety  of  changes  which  the  silk-worm  undergoes but  the 
curious  texture  of  that  silken  covering  with  which  it  surrounds 
itself  when  it  arrives  at  the  perfection  of  its  animal  life,  vastly 
surpasses  what  is  made  by  other  animals  of  this  class.  All  the 
caterpillar  kind  do,  indeed,  pass  through  changes  like  those  of 
the  silk-worm,  and  the  beauty  of  many  in  their  butterfly  state 


*  Contemplation  de  la  Nature,  part  ii.  ch.  42. 


102        CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

greatly  exceeds  it ;  but  the  covering  which  they  put  on  before 
this  mutation  is  poor  and  mean,  when  compared  to  that  golden 
tissue  in  which  the  silk-worm  wraps  itself.  They,  indeed,  come 
forth  in  a  variety  of  colors,  their  wings  bedropped  with  gold 
and  scarlet,  yet  are  they  but  the  beings  of  a  summer's  day ; 
both  their  life  and  beauty  quickly  vanish,  and  they  leave  no 
remembrance  after  them ;  but  the  silk-worm  leaves  behind  it 
such  beautiful,  such  beneficial  monuments,  as  at  once  to  record 
both  the  wisdom  of  their  Creator  and  his  bounty  to  man." 

"We  may  without  impropriety,  here  introduce  the  following 
truly  beautiful  comparison  of  the  shortness  of  human  life,  as 
well  as  in  illustration  of  this  part  of  our  subject,  as  evidenced 
in  the  May-fly. 

"  The  angler's  May -fly,  the  most  short-lived  in  its  perfect  state  of  any  of  the 
insect  race,  emerges  from  the  water,  where  it  passes  its  aurelia  state,  about  sis 
in  the  evening,  and  dies  about  eleven  at  night." — White's  Selborne, 

The  sun  of  the  eve  was  warm  and  bright 

When  the  May-fly  burst  his  shell, 
And  he  wanton'd  awhile  in  that  fair  light 

O'er  the  river's  gentle  swell ; 
And  the  deepening  tints  of  the  crimson  sky 
Still  gleam'd  on  the  wing  of  the  glad  May-fly. 

The  colors  of  sunset  pass'd  away, 

The  crimson  and  yellow  green, 
And  the  evening-star's  first  twinkling  ray 

In  the  waveless  stream  was  seen  ; 
Till  the  deep  repose  of  the  stillest  night 
Was  hushing  about  his  giddy  flight. 

The  noon  of  the  night  is  nearly  come — 

There's  a  crescent  in  the  sky  ; — 
The  silence  still  hears  the  myriad  hum 

Of  the  insect  revelry. 
The  hum  has  ceas'd — the  quiet  wave 
Is  now  the  sportive  Mayfly's  grave. 

Oh  !  thine  was  a  blessed  lot — to  spring 

In  thy  lustihood  to  air, 
And  sail  about,  on  untiring  wing, 

Through  a  world  most  rich  and  fair, 
To  drop  at  once  in  thy  watery  bed, 
Like  a  leaf  that  the  willow  branch  has  shed. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM. 


103 


And  who  shall  say  that  his  thread  of  years 

Is  a  life  more  blest  than  thine  ! 
Has  his  feverish  dream  of  doubts  and  fears 

Such  joys  as  those  which  shine 
In  the  constant  pleasures  of  thy  way, 
Most  happy  child  of  the  happy  May  ? 

For  thou  wert  born  when  the  earth  was  clad 
With  her  robe  of  buds  and  flowers, 

And  didst  float  about  with  a  soul  as  glad 
As  a  bird  in  the  sunny  showers ; 

And  the  hour  of  thy  death  had  a  sweet  repose, 

Like  a  melody,  sweetest  at  its  close. 

Nor  too  brief  the  date  of  thy  cheerful  race — 

'Tis  its  use  that  measures  time — 
And  the  mighty  Spirit  that  fills  all  space 

With  His  life  and  His  will  sublime, 
May  see  that  the  May-fly  and  the  Man 
Each  flutter  out  the  same  small  span ; 

And  the  fly  that  is  born  with  the  sinking  sun, 

To  die  ere  the  midnight  hour, 
May  have  deeper  joy,  ere  his  course  be  run, 

Than  man  in  his  pride  and  power ; 
And  the  insect's  minutes  be  spared  the  fears 
And  the  anxious  doubts  of  our  threescore  years. 

The  years  and  the  minutes  are  as  one — 
The  fly  drops  in  his  twilight  mirth, 

And  the  man,  when  his  long  day's  work  is  done, 
Crawls  to  the  self -same  earth. 

Great  Father  of  each !  may  our  mortal  day 

Be  the  prelude  to  an  endless  May*  ! 


*  "  See,"  exclaims  Linnaeus,  "  the  large,  elegant  painted  wings  of  the  butterfly, 
four  in  number,  covered  with  delicate  feathery  scales !  With  these  it  sustains 
itself  in  the  air  a  whole  day,  rivalling  the  flight  of  birds  and  the  brilliancy  of  the 
peacock.  Consider  this  insect  through  the  wonderful  progress  of  its  life, — how 
different  is  the  first  period  of  its  being  from  the  second,  and  both  from  the  parent 
insect !  Its  changes  are  an  inexplicable  enigma  to  us :  we  see  a  green  caterpil- 
lar, furnished  with  sixteen  feet,  feeding  upon  the  leaves  of  a  plant ;  this  is  changed 
into  a  chrysalis,  smooth,  of  golden  lustre,  hanging  suspended  to  a  fixed  point, 
without  feet,  and  subsisting  without  food ;  this  insect  again  undergoes  another 
transformation,  acquires  wings,  and  six  feet,  and  becomes  a  gay  butterfly,  sport- 
ing in  the  air,  and  living  by  suction  upon  the  honey  of  plants.    What  has  Nature 


104         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


Silk-worms  proceed  from  eggs  which  are  deposited  during  the 
summer  by  a  grayish  kind  of  moth,  of  the  genus  palsena. 
These  eggs  are  about  equal  in  size  to  a  grain  of  mustard  seed : 
their  color  when  first  laid  is  yellow ;  but  in  three  or  four  days 
after,  they  acquire  a  bluish  cast.  In  temperate  climates,  and 
by  using  proper  precautions,  these  eggs  may  be  preserved  du- 
ring the  winter  and  spring,  without  risk  of  premature  hatching. 
The  period  of  their  animation  may  be  accelerated  or  retarded 
by  artificial  means,  so  as  to  agree  with  the  time  when  the  nat- 
ural food  of  the  insect  shall  appear  in  ample  abundance  for  its 
support. 

All  the  curious  changes  and  labors  which  accompany  and 
characterize  the  life  of  the  silk-worm  are  performed  within  the 
space  of  a  very  few  weeks.  This  period  varies,  indeed,  accord- 
ing to  the  climate  or  temperature  in  which  its  life  is  passed ;  all 
its  vital  functions  being  quickened,  and  their  duration  propor- 
tionally abridged,  by  warmth.  With  this  sole  variance,  its  pro- 
gressions are  alike  in  all  climates,  and  the  same  mutations  ac- 
company its  course. 

The  three  successive  states  of  being  put  on  by  this  insect 
are,  that  of  the  worm  or  caterpillar,  of  the  chrysalis  or  aurelia, 
and  moth.  In  addition  to  these  more  decided  transformations, 
the  progress  of  the  silk-worm  in  its  caterpillar  state  is  marked 
by  five  distinct  stages  of  being. 

When  first  hatched,  it  appears  as  a  small  black  worm  about 


produced  more  worthy  of  our  admiration  than  such  an  animal  coming  upon  the 
stage  of  the  world,  and  playing  its  part  there  under  so  many  different  masks  ?" 
The  ancients  were  so  struck  with  the  transformations  of  the  butterfly,  and  its  re- 
vival from  a  seeming  temporary  death,  as  to  have  considered  it  an  emblem  of  the 
soul,  the  Greek  word  psyche  signifying  both  the  soul  and  a  butterfly  ;  and  it  is 
for  this  reason  that  we  find  the  butterfly  introduced  into  their  allegorical  sculp- 
tures as  an  emblem  of  immortality.  Trifling,  therefore,  and  perhaps  contempti- 
ble, as  to  the  unthinking  may  seem  the  study  of  a  butterfly,  yet  when  we  consid- 
er the  art  and  mechanism  displayed  in  so  minute  a  structure, — the  fluids  circu- 
lating in  vessels  so  small  as  almost  to  escape  the  sight — the  beauty  of  the  wings 
and  covering — and  the  manner  in  which  each  part  is  adapted  for  its  peculiar 
functions, — we  cannot  but  be  struck  with  wonder  and  admiration,  and  allow, 
with  Paley,  that  "  the  production  of  beauty  was  as  much  in  the  Creator's  mind  in 
painting  a  butterfly  as  in  giving  symmetry  to  the  human  form." 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE   SILK-WORM.  105 

a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length.  Its  first  indication  of  anima- 
tion is  the  desire  which  it  evinces  for  obtaining  food,  in  search  of 
which,  if  not  immediately  supplied,  it  will  exhibit  more  power 
of  locomotion  than  characterizes  it  at  any  other  period.  So 
small  is  the  desire  of  change  on  the  part  of  these  insects,  that 
of  the  generality  it  may  be  said,  their  own  spontaneous  will 
seldom  leads  them  to  travel  over  a  greater  space  than  three 
feet  throughout  the  whole  duration  of  their  lives.  Even  when 
hungry,  the  worm  still  clings  to  the  skeleton  of  the  leaf  from 
which  its  nourishment  was  last  derived.  If,  by  the  continued 
cravings  of  its  appetite,  it  should  be  at  length  incited  to  the  ef- 
fort necessary  for  changing  its  position,  it  will  sometimes  wan- 
der as  far  as  the  edge  of  the  tray  wherein  it  is  confined,  and 
some  few  have  been  found  sufficiently  adventurous  to  cling  to 
its  rim ;  but  the  smell  of  fresh  leaves  will  instantly  allure  them 
back.  It  would  add  incalculably  to  the  labors  and  cares  of 
their  attendants,  if  silk-worms  were  endowed  with  a  more  ram- 
bling disposition.  So  useful  is  this  peculiarity  of  their  nature, 
that  one  is  irresistibly  tempted  to  consider  it  the  result  of  design, 
and  a  part  of  that  beautiful  system  of  the  fitness  of  things, 
which  the  student  of  natural  history  has  so  many  opportunities 
of  contemplating  with  delight  and  admiration. 

In  about  eight  days  from  its  being  hatched,  its  head  becomes 
perceptibly  larger,  and  the  worm  is  attacked  by  its  first  sickness. 
This  lasts  for  three  days ;  during  which  time  it  refuses  food, 
and  remains  motionless  as  in  a  kind  of  lethargy.  Some  have 
thought  this  to  be  sleep,  but  the  fatal  termination  which  so 
frequently  attends  these  sicknesses  seems  to  afford  a  denial  to  this 
hypothesis.  The  silk-worm  increases  its  size  so  considerably, 
and  in  so  short  a  space  of  time, — its  weight  being  multiplied 
many  thousand  fold  in  the  course  of  one  month, — that  if  only 
one  skin  had  been  assigned  to  it,  which  should  serve  for  its 
whole  caterpillar  state,  it  would  with  difficulty  have  distended 
itself  sufficiently  to  keep  pace  with  the  insect's  growth.  The 
economy  of  nature  has  therefore  admirably  provided  the  em- 
bryos of  other  skins,  destined  to  be  successively  called  into  use  ; 
and  this  sickness  of  the  worm,  and  its  disinclination  for  food, 

14 


106         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


may  very  probably  be  occasioned  by  the  pressure  of  the  skin, 
now  become  too  small  for  the  body  which  it  encases. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  day  from  its  first  refusal  of  food,  the 
animal  appears,  on  that  account,  much  wasted  in  its  bodily 
frame ;  a  circumstance  which  materially  assists  in  the  painful 
operation  of  casting  its  skin  :  this  it  now  proceeds  to  accomplish. 
To  facilitate  this  moulting,  a  sort  of  humor  is  thrown  off  by  the 
worm,  which,  spreading  between  its  body  and  the  skin  about  to 
be  abandoned,  lubricates  their  surfaces,  and  causes  them  to 
separate  the  more  readily.  The  insect  also  emits  from  its  body 
silken  traces,  which,  adhering  to  the  spot  where  it  rests,  serves 
to  confine  the  skin  to  its  then  existing  position.  These  prelim- 
inary steps  seem  to  call  for  some  considerable  exertion,  as  after 
them  the  worm  remains  quiet  for  a  short  space  of  time,  to  re- 
cover from  its  fatigue.  It  then  proceeds,  by  rubbing  its  head 
among  the  leafy  fibres  surrounding  it,  to  disencumber  itself  of 
the  scaly  covering.  Its  next  effort  is  to  break  through  the  skin 
nearest  to  the  head,  which,  as  it  is  there  the  smallest,  calls  for  the 
greatest  exertion  ;  and  no  sooner  is  this  accomplished  and  the 
two  front  legs  are  disengaged,  than  the  remainder  of  the  body 
is  quickly  drawn  forth,  the  skin  being  still  fastened  to  the  spot 
in  the  manner  already  described. 

This  moulting  is  so  complete,  that  not  only  is  the  whole 
covering  of  the  body  cast  off,  but  that  of  the  feet,  the  entire 
skull,  and  even  the  jaws,  including  the  teeth.  These  several 
parts  may  be  discerned  by  the  unassisted  eye ;  but  become  very 
apparent  when  viewed  through  a  magnifying  lens  of  moderate 
power. 

In  two  or  three  minutes  from  the  beginning  of  its  efforts  the 
worm  is  wholly  freed,  and  again  puts  on  the  appearance  of 
health  and  vigor ;  feeding  with  recruited  appetite  upon  its  leafy 
banquet.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  outer  skin  refuses  to 
detach  itself  wholly,  but  breaks  and  leaves  an  annular  portion 
adhering  to  the  extremity  of  its  body,  from  which  all  the  strug- 
gles of  the  insect  cannot  wholly  disengage  it.  The  pressure 
thus  occasioned  induces  swelling  and  inflammation  in  other 
parts  of  the  body  ;  and,  after  efforts  of  greater  or  less  duration, 
death  generally  terminates  its  sufferings.  < 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM.  107 

Worms  newly  freed  from  their  exuviae)are  easily  distinguished 
from  others  by  the  pale  color  and  wrinkled  appearance  of  their 
new  skin.  This  latter  quality,  however,  soon  disappears, 
through  the  repletion  and  growth  of  the  insect,  which  continues 
to  feed  during  five  days.  At  this  time  its  length  will  be  in- 
creased to  half  an  inch  ;  when  it  is  attacked  by  a  second  sick- 
ness, followed  by  a  second  moulting,  the  manner  of  performing 
which  is  exactly  similar  to  the  former.  Its  appetite  then  again 
returns,  and  is  indulged  during  other  five  days,  in  the  course  of 
which  time  its  length  increases  to  three  quarters  of  an  inch  :  it 
then  undergoes  its  third  sickness  and  moulting.  These  being 
past  in  all  respects  like  the  former,  and  five  more  days  of  feed- 
ing having  followed,  it  is  seized  by  its  fourth  sickness,  and  casts 
its  skin  for  the  last  time  in  the  caterpillar  state.  The  worm  is 
now  about  one  and  a  half  or  two  inches  long.  This  last  change 
being  finished,  the  worm  devours  its  food  most  voraciously,  and 
increases  rapidly  in  size  during  ten  days. 

The  silk-worm  has  now  attained  to  its  full  growth,  and  is  a 
slender  caterpillar  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  inches  in  length 
(See  Figure  1.  Plate  III.).  The  peculiarities  of  its  structure 
may  be  better  examined  now  than  in  its  earlier  stages.  It  can 
readily  be  seen  that  the  worm  has  twelve  membranous  rings 
round  its  body,  parallel  to  each  other ;  and  which,  answering  to 
the  movements  of  the  animal,  mutually  contract  and  elongate. 
It  has  sixteen  legs,  in  pairs :  six  in  front,  which  are  covered 
with  a  sort  of  shell  or  scale,  and  are  placed  under  the  three  first 
rings,  and  cannot  be  either  sensibly  lengthened,  or  their  position 
altered.  The  other  ten  legs  are  called  holders :  these  are  mem- 
branous, flexible,  and  attached  to  the  body  under  the  rings,  be- 
ing furnished  with  little  hooks,  which  assist  the  insect  in 
climbing.  The  skull  is  inclosed  in  a  scaly  substance,  similar  to 
the  covering  of  the  first  six  legs.  The  jaws  are  indented  or 
serrated  like  the  teeth  of  a  saw,  and  their  strength  is  great  con- 
sidering the  size  of  the  insect.  Its  mouth  is  peculiar,  having  a 
vertical  instead  of  an  horizontal  aperture ;  and  the  worm  is  fur- 
nished with  eighteen  breathing  holes,  placed  at  equal  distances 
down  the  body,  nine  on  each  side.  Each  of  these  holes  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  termination  of  a  particular  organ  of  respiration. 


108         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

On  either  side  of  the  head,  near  to  the  mouth,  seven  small  eyes 
may  be  discerned.  The  two  broad  appearances  higher  upon 
the  head,  which  are  frequently  mistaken  for  eyes,  are  bones  of 
the  skull.  The  two  apertures  through  which  the  worm  draws 
its  silken  filament  are  placed  just  beneath  the  jaw,  and  close  to 
each  other ;  these  being  exceedingly  minute. 

At  the  period  above-mentioned  the  desire  of  the  worm  for 
food  begins  to  abate :  the  first  symptom  of  this  is  the  appear- 
ance of  the  leaves  nibbled  into  small  portions  and  wasted.  It 
scon  after  entirely  ceases  even  to  touch  the  leaves  ;  appears 
restless  and  uneasy ;  erects  it  head ;  and  moves  about  from  side 
to  side,  with  a  circular  motion,  in  quest  of  a  place  wherein  it 
can  commence  its  labor  of  spinning.  Its  color  is  now  light 
green,  with  some  mixture  of  a  darker  hue.  In  twenty-four 
hours  from  the  time  of  its  abstaining  from  food,  the  material 
for  forming  its  silk  will  be  digested  in  its  reservoirs  ;  its  green 
color  will  disappear ;  its  body  will  have  acquired  a  degree  of 
glossiness,  and  have  become  partially  transparent  towards  its 
neck.  Before  the  worm  is  quite  prepared  to  spin,  its  body  will 
have  acquired  greater  firmness,  and  be  in  a  trifling  measure 
lessened  in  size. 

4 

"  The  substance,"  says  Mr.  Porfer,  "  of  which  the  silk  is 
composed,  is  secreted  in  the  form  of  a  fine  yellow  transparent 
gum  in  two  separate  vessels  of  slender  dimensions,  wound, 
as  it  were,  on  two  spindles  in  the  stomach  ;  and  if  unfolded, 
these  vessels  would  be  about  ten  inches  in  length*?  This 
statement  is  proved  to  be  erroneous,  as  the  reader  will  perceive, 
at  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter. 

When  the  worm  has  fixed  upon  some  angle,  or  hollow  place, 
whose  dimensions  agree  with  the  size  of  its  intended  silken 
ball  or  cocoon,  it  begins  its  labor  by  throwing  forth  thin  and  ir- 
regular threads,  see  Figure  2.  Plate  III.,  which  are  intended  to 
support  its  future  dwelling. 

During  the  first  day,  the  insect  forms  upon  these  a  loose 
structure  of  an  oval  shape,  which  is  called  floss  silk,  and  within 
which  covering,  in  the  three  following  days,  it  forms  the  firm 


*  Porter's  "  Treatise  on  the  Silk  Manufacture,"  p.  111. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM. 


109 


and  consistent  yellow  ball ;  the  laborer,  of  course,  always  re- 
maining on  the  inside  of  the  sphere  which  it  is  forming*. 

The  silken  filament,  which  when  drawn  out  appears  to  be 
one  thread,  is  composed  of  two  fibres,  unwound  through  the 
two  orifices  before  described ;  and  these  fibres  are  brought  to- 
gether by  means  of  two  hooks,  placed  within  the  silk-worm's 
mouth  for  the  purpose.  The  worm  rests  on  its  lower  extremity 
throughout  the  unwinding  operation,  and  employs  its  mouth 
and  front  legs  in  the  task  of  directing  and  uniting  the  two  fila- 
ments. The  filament  is  not  wound  in  regular  concentric  circles 
round  the  interior  surface  of  the  ball,  but  in  spots,  going  back- 
wards and  forwards  with  a  sort  of  wavy  motion.  This  appa- 
rently irregular  manner  of  proceeding  is  plainly  perceptible 
when  the  silk  is  being  reeled  off  the  ball ;  which  does  not  make 
more  than  one  or  two  entire  revolutions  wrhile  ten  or  twelve 
yards  of  silk  are  being  transferred  to  the  reelf. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  or  fourth  day,  the  worm  will  have 
completed  its  task  ;  and  we  have  then  a  silk  cocoon  (See  Fig- 
ure 3.  plate  III.),  with  the  worm  imprisoned  in  its  centre ;  the 


*  If  at  this  time  any  of  the  threads  intended  for  the  support  of  the  cocoon 
should  be  broken,  the  worm  will  find,  in  the  progress  of  its  work,  that  the  ball, 
not  being  properly  poised,  becomes  unsteady,  so  that  the  insect  is  unable  properly 
to  go  forward  with  its  labors.  Under  these  circumstances  the  worm  pierces  and 
altogether  quits  the  unfinished  cocoon,  and  throws  out  its  remaining  threads  at 
random  wherever  it  passes ;  by  which  means  the  silk  is  wholly  lost,  and  the 
worm,  finding  no  place  wherein  to  prepare  for  its  change,  dies  without  having 
effected  it.  It  may  sometimes  happen,  but  such  a  thing  is  of  unfrequent  occur- 
rence, that  the  preparatory  threads  before  mentioned  are  broken  by  another 
worm  working  in  the  neighborhood,  when  the  same  unsatisfactory  result  will  be 
experienced. — Obs.  on  the  Culture  of  Silk,  by  A.  Stephenson. 

t  Mr.  Robinet,  of  Paris,  made  the  following  curious  calculation  on  the  move- 
ments a  silk- worm  must  make  in  forming  a  cocoon  supposed  to  contain  a  thread 
of  1500  metres.  It  is  known,  says  Mr.  Robinet,  that  the  silk-worm,  in  forming 
his  cocoon,  does  not  spin  the  silken  filament  in  concentric  circles  round  the  inte- 
rior surface  of  the  ball,  but  in  a  zigzag  manner.  This  it  effects  by  the  motions  of 
its  head.  Now  if  each  one  of  these  motions  gives  half  a  centimetre  of  the  silken 
filament ;  it  follows  that  the  worm  must  make  300,000  motions  of  its  head  to 
form  it ;  and  if  the  labor  requires  72  hours  in  the  performance,  the  creature 
makes  100,000  motions  every  24  hours,  4,166  per  hour,  69  per  minute,  and  a  lit- 
tle more  than  one  in  a  second  ! 


110         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


cocoon  being  from  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  and  of  a 
yellow  or  orange  color. 

When  the  insect  has  finished  its  labor  of  unwinding,  it 
smears  the  entire  internal  surface  of  the  cocoon  with  a  pecu- 
liar kind  of  gum,  very  similar  in  its  nature  to  the  matter  which 
forms  the  silk  itself ;  and  this  is  no  doubt  designed  as  a  shield 
against  rain  or  the  humidity  of  the  atmosphere,  for  the  chrysa- 
lis in  its  natural  state  ;  when  of  course  it  would  be  subject  to 
all  varieties  of  weather.  The  silken  filament  of  which  the 
ball  is  made  up,  is  likewise  accompanied,  throughout  its  entire 
length,  by  a  portion  of  gum,  which  serves  to  give  firmness  and 
consistency  to  its  texture  ;  and  assists  in  rendering  the  dwell- 
ing of  the  chrysalis  impervious  to  moisture.  This  office  it  per- 
forms so  well,  that  when,  for  the  purpose  of  reeling  the  silk 
with  greater  facility,  the  balls  are  thrown  into  basins  of  hot 
water,  they  swim  on  the  top  with  all  the  buoyancy  of  blad- 
ders ;  nor,  unless  the  ball  be  imperfectly  formed,  does  the  water 
penetrate  within  until  the  silk  is  nearly  all  unwound.  In  fig- 
ure 4,  plate  III.,  the  cocoons  are  drawn  two-thirds  of  the  usual 
size,  and  are  shown  with  part  of  the  outward  floss  silk  re- 
moved. 

The  continual  emission  of  the  silken  material  during  the 
formation  of  its  envelope,  together  with  its  natural  evaporation, 
uncompensated  by  food,  causes  the  worm  gradually  to  contract 
in  bulk ;  it  becomes  wrinkled,  and  the  rings  of  its  body  ap- 
proach nearer  to  each  other  and  appear  more  decidedly  marked. 
When  the  ball  is  finished,  the  insect  rests  awhile  from  its  toil, 
and  then  throws  off  its  caterpillar  garb.  If  the  cocoon  be  now 
opened,  its  inhabitant  will  appear  in  the  form  of  a  chrysalis  or 
aurelia,  in  shape  somewhat  resembling  a  kidney-bean  (See  Fig- 
ure 5.  plate  III.) j  but  pointed  at  one  end,  having  a  smooth  brown 
skin.  Its  former  covering,  so  dissimilar  to  the  one  now  assumed, 
will  be  found  lying  beside  it.  • 

The  account  which  has  been  given  of  the  progressions  of  the 
silk-worm  shows,  that,  in  its  various  modifications,  the  animal 
organization  of  the  insect  has  been  always  tending  towards 
its  simplification.  Count  Dandolo.  wTiting  upon  this  subject, 
observes,  "  Thus  the  caterpillar  is  in  the  first  instance  composed 


DESCRIPTION  OP  THE  SILK-WORM.  Ill 

of  animal,  silky,  and  excremental  particles ;  this  forms  the  state 
of  the  growing  caterpillar :  in  the  next  stage  it  is  composed 
of  animal  and  silky  particles  ;  it  is  then  the  mature  caterpil- 
lar :  and  lastly,  it  is  reduced  to  the  animal  particles  alone ;  and 
is  termed  in  this  state  the  chrysalis.  The  poet  Cowper,  in 
the  following  lines,  beautifully  illustrates  this  subject : 

The  beams  of  April,  ere  it  goes, 

A  worm,  scarce  visible,  disclose  ; 

All  winter  long  content  to  dwell 

The  tenant  of  his  native  shell. 

The  same  prolific  season  gives 

The  sustenance  by  which  he  lives, 

The  mulberry  leaf,  a  simple  store, 

That  serves  him — till  he  needs  no  more  ! 

For,  his  dimensions  once  complete, 

Thenceforth  none  ever  sees  him  eat ; 

Though  till  his  growing  time  be  past 

Scarce  ever  is  he  seen  to  fast. 

That  hour  arrived,  his  work  begins. 

He  spins  and  weaves,  and  weaves  and  spins ; 

Till  circle  upon  circle,  wound 

Careless  around  him  and  around, 

Conceals  him  with  a  veil  though  slight, 

Impervious  to  the  keenest  sight. 

Thus  self-inclosed,  as  in  a  cask, 

At  length  he  finishes  his  task : 

And,  though  a  worm  when  he  was  lost, 

Or  caterpillar  at  the  most, 

When  next  we  see  him,  wings  he  wears, 

And  in  papilio  pomp  appears  ; 

Becomes  oviparous ;  supplies 

With  future  worms  and  future  flies 

The  next  ensuing  year — and  dies  ! 

Well  were  it  for  the  world  if  all 

Who  creep  about  this  earthly  ball, 

Though  shorter-lived  than  most  he  be, 

Were  useful  in  their  kind  as  he. 

It  has  been  already  noticed  that  the  progressions  of  the  in- 
sects are  accelerated  by  an  increase  of  temperature  ;  and  some 
variation  will  equally  be  experienced  where  different  modes  of 
treatment  are  followed  ;  and,  in  particular,  where  different 
periods  of  the  year  are  chosen  in  which  to  produce  and  rear  the 
worm.    Malpighius,  in  his  "  Anatomy  of  the  Silk-worm,"  says, 


112         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

that  worms  which  he  hatched  in  May  were  eleven  days  old  ere 
they  were  attacked  by  their  first  sickness ;  others  hatched  m 
July  were  ten  days,  and  those  brought  forth  in  August  nine  days, 
before  they  refused  their  food,  preparatory  to  their  first  moulting. 
Eight  days  appear  to  be  the  most  usual  term  for  their  first  at- 
tack ;  and  by  his  judicious  treatment  count  Dandolo  shortened 
even  this  term  by  two  days.  In  Europe,  except  where  recourse 
is  had  to  artificial  aid,  the  term  of  the  caterpillar  state  is  usually 
that  which  has  been  already  mentioned. 

Sudden  transitions  from  cold  to  heat,  or  vice  versa,  are  highly 
injurious  to  the  silk-worm  ;  but  it  can  bear  a  very  high  degree 
of  heat,  if  uniformly  maintained,  without  sustaining  injury. 
Count  Dandolo  observed,  that  "  the  greater  the  degree  of  heat 
in  which  it  is  reared,  the  more  acute  are  its  wants,  the  more 
rapid  its  pleasures,  and  the  shorter  its  existence."  Monsieur 
Boissier  de  Sauvagues  made  many  experiments  on  this  point. 
One  year,  when  by  the  early  appearance  of  the  mulberry 
leaves,  which  were  developed  by  the  end  of  April,  he  was 
forced  to  hurry  forward  the  operations  of  his  filature,  he  raised 
the  heat  of  the  apartment  in  which  the  newly-hatched  worms 
were  placed  to  100° ;  gradually  diminishing  this  during  their 
first  and  second  ages  to  95°.  In  consequence  of  the  animal  ex- 
citement thus  induced,  there  elapsed  only  nine  days  between 
the  hatching  and  the  second  moulting  inclusively.  It  was  the 
general  opinion  of  those  cultivators  who  witnessed  the  exper- 
iment, that  the  insects  would  not  be  able  to  exist  in  so  intensely 
heated  an  atmosphere.  The  walls  of  the  apartment,  and  the 
wicker  hurdles  on  which  the  worms  were  placed,  could  scarcely 
be  touched  from  the  great  heat,  and  yet  all  the  changes  and 
progressions  went  forward  perfectly  well,  and  a  most  abundant 
crop  of  silk  was  the  result. 

The  same  gentleman,  on  a  subsequent  occasion,  exposed  his 
brood  to  the  temperature  of  93°  to  95°  during  their  first  age  ; 
of  89°  to  91°  in  the  second  age ;  and  remarked  that  the  at- 
tendant circumstances  were  the  same  as  in  his  former  experi- 
ment, the  changes  of  the  worm  being  performed  in  the  same 
space  of  time  ;  whence  he  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  it  is  not 
practicable  to  accelerate  their  progress  beyond  a  certain  point 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM.  113 

by  any  superadditions  of  heat.  In  both  of  these  experiments 
the  quantity  of  food  consumed,  was  as  great  as  is  usually  given 
during  the  longer  period  employed  in  the  common  manner  of 
rearing.  After  the  second  moulting  had  taken  place  in  the 
last  experiment,  the  temperature  was  lowered  to  82°  ;  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  the  worms  occupied  only  five  days  in  comple- 
ting their  third  and  fourth  changes,  although  others  which  had 
been  accustomed  to  this  lower  degree  from  their  birth  occupied 
seven  or  eight  days  for  each  of  these  moultings.  It  would  there- 
fore seem  that  the  constitution  of  the  insects  can  be  affected, 
and  an  impetus  given  to  their  functions  at  the  period  of  their 
first  animation,  which  accompanies  them  through  their  after 
stages.  So  far  from  this  forcing  system  proving  injurious  to  the 
health  of  silk-worms,  M.  de  Sauvagues  found  that  his  broods 
were  unusually  healthy ;  and  that  while  the  labors  of  cultiva- 
tion were  abridged  in  their  duration,  much  of  the  attendant 
anxiety  was  removed. 

Like  other  caterpillars,  the  silk-worm  is  not  a  warm-blooded 
animal,  and  its  temperature  is  therefore  always  equal  to  that  of 
the  atmosphere  in  which  it  is  placed.  In  the  silk-producing 
countries,  where  modes  of  artificial  heating  have  not  been 
studied  practically  and  scientifically,  the  difficulty  and  expense 
that  must  attend  the  prosecution  of  this  heating  system,  form 
abundant  reasons  why  it  cannot  be  generally  adopted.  The 
great  susceptibility  of  the  insect  to  atmospheric  influences 
would  also  in  a  great  degree  render  unsuitable  the  more  com- 
mon arrangements  for  the  purpose.  The  plan  of  warming 
apartments  by  means  of  stoves,  in  its  passage  through  which 
the  air  becomes  highly  heated  before  it  mixes  with  and  raises 
the  general  temperature  of  the  air  in  the  chamber,  is  liable  to 
this  inconvenience, — that  the  portion  so  introduced,  having  its 
vital  property  impaired  by  the  burning  heat  through  which  it 
has  passed,  injures,  proportionably,  the  respirable  quality  of  the 
whole  atmosphere ;  an  effect  which  is  easily  perceptible  by 
those  who  inhale  it.  A  better  plan  of  heating  has  lately  been 
suggested,  and  is  rapidly  coming  into  practice,  viz.,  of  warming 
buildings  by  a  current  of  hot  water  (an  American  invention), 
which  is,  by  a  very  simple  process,  kept  constantly  flowing  in 

15 


114         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE   OF  SILK. 

close  channels  through  the  apartment,  where  it  continually 
gives  off  its  heat  by  radiation  ;  and  the  degree  of  this  being 
far  below  the  point  which  is  injurious  to  the  vital  quality  of 
air,  the  evil  before  alluded  to  is  avoided.  If  the  expense  of  fuel 
be  not  too  great,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  labor  which 
would  be  saved  by  this  invention,  the  adoption  in  silk  countries 
of  such  a  mode  of  raising  and  regulating  the  temperature 
might,  probably,  prove  advantageous. 

The  silk-worm  remains  in  the  form  of  a  chrysalis  for  periods 
which,  according  to  the  climate  or  the  temperature  wherein  it 
maybe  placed,  vary  from  fifteen  to  thirty  days.  In  India,  the 
time  is  much  shorter  (See  Chapter  VIII.) ;  in  Spain  and  Italy, 
eighteen  to  twenty  days.  In  France  three  weeks  ;  and  in  the 
climate  of  England,  when  unaccelerated  by  artificial  means, 
thirty  days  will  elapse  from  the  time  the  insect  begins  to  spin 
until  it  emerges  in  its  last  and  perfect  form.  It  then  throws  off 
the  shroud  which  had  confined  it  in  seeming  lifelessness,  and 
appears  as  a  large  moth  of  a  grayish-white  color,  furnished  with 
four  wings,  two  eyes,  and  two  black  horns  or  antlers  which 
present  a  feathery  appearance  (See  Figure  6.  plate  III.). 

If  left  until  this  period  within  the  cocoon,  the  moth  takes 
immediate  measures  for  its  extrication :  ejecting  from  its  mouth 
a  liquor  with  which  it  moistens  and  lessens  the  adhesiveness 
of  the  gum  wherewith  it  had  lined  the  interior  surface  of  its 
dwelling,  and  the  insect  is  enabled,  by  frequent  motions  of  its 
head,  to  loosen,  without  breaking,  the  texture  of  the  ball ;  then 
using  its  hooked  feet,  it  pushes  aside  the  filaments  and  makes 
a  passage  for  itself  into  light  and  freedom.  It  is  erroneously 
said  that  the  moth  recovers  its  liberty  by  gnawing  the  silken 
threads ;  but  it  is  found,  on  the  contrary,  that  if  carefully  un- 
wound, their  continuity  is  by  this  means  rarely  broken. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  connected  with 
the  natural  history  of  silk-worms,  is  the  degree  in  which  their 
bulk  and  weight  is  increased,  and  the  limited  time  wherein 
that  increase  is  attained.  Count  Dandolo,  who  appears  to 
have  neglected  nothing  that  could  tend  to  the  right  under- 
standing of  the  subject,  and  to  the  consequent  improvement 
of  the  processes  employed,  had  patience  enough  to  count  and 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM. 


115 


weigh  many  hundred  thousand  eggs,  as  well  as  follow  out  to 
the  ultimate  result  his  inquiries  respecting  their  produce.  He 
found  that  on  an  average  sixty-eight  sound  silk-worm's  eggs 
weighed  one  grain.  One  ounce*,  therefore,  comprised,  39,168 
eggs.  But  one  twelfth  part  of  this  weight  evaporates  previous 
to  hatching,  and  the  shells  are  equal  to  one  fifth  more.  If, 
therefore,  from  one  ounce,  composed  of  576  grains,  48  grains  be 
deducted  for  evaporation,  and  115  for  the  shells,  413  grains 
will  remain  equal  to  the  weight  of  39,168  young  worms ;  and, 
at  this  rate,  54,526  of  the  insects  when  newly  hatched,  are 
required  to  make  up  the  ounce.  After  the  first  casting  of  the 
skin,  3840  worms  are  found  to  have  this  weight,  so  that  the 
bulk  and  weight  of  the  insects  have  in  a  few  days  been  multi- 
plied more  than  fourteen  times.  After  the  second  change  610 
worms  weigh  an  ounce,  their  weight  being  increased  in  the  in- 
termediate time  six  fold.  In  the  week  passed  between  the  sec- 
ond and  third  ages,  the  number  of  insects  required  to  make  up 
the  same  weight,  decreases  from  610  to  144,  their  weight  be- 
ing therefore  more  than  quadrupled.  During  the  fourth  age, 
a  similar  rate  of  increase  is  maintained :  thirty-five  worms  now 
weigh  an  ounce.  The  fifth  age  of  the  caterpillar  comprises 
nearly  a  third  part  of  its  brief  existence,  and  has  been  describ- 
ed, by  an  enthusiastic  writer  on  the  subject,  as  the  happiest 
period  of  its  life,  during  which  it  rapidly  increases  in  size,  pre- 
paring and  secreting  the  material  it  is  about  to  spin.  When 
the  silk-worms  are  fully  grown,  and  have  arrived  at  their  period 
of  finally  rejecting  food,  six  of  them  make  up  the  weight  of 
an  ounce.  They  have,  therefore,  since  their  last  change,  again 
added  to  their  weight  six  fold. 

It  is  thus  seen  that,  in  a  few  short  weeks,  the  insect  has 
multiplied  its  weight  more  than  nine  thousand  fold,  !  From 
this  period,  and  during  the  whole  of  its  two  succeeding  states 
of  being,  the  worm  imbibes  no  nourishment,  and  gradually  di- 
minishes in  weight ;  being  supported  by  its  own  substance,  and 


*  This  ounce  contains  576  grains ;  8.5325  of  these  grains  equal  seven  grains 
troy.  One  ounce  avoirdupoise  is  therefore  equal  to  about  533  grains,  and  between 
11-12  and  11-13  ounce  avoirdupoise  equals  one  of  the  above  ounces. 


116         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

appearing  to  find  sufficient  occupation  in  forming  its  silken  web, 
and  providing  successors  for  our  service,  without  indulging  that 
grosser  appetite  which  forms  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  their 
desires  during  their  caterpillar  existence. 

The  moth  enjoys  its  liberty  for  only  a  very  brief  space.  Its 
first  employment  is  to  seek  its  mate ;  after  which  the  female 
deposits  her  eggs ;  and  both  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  days 
after,  end  their  being. 

Formation  of  Silk.  By  M.  H.  Straus,  of  Durckheim. — "  It 
is  generally  admitted  by  naturalists  that  the  thread  of  the 
caterpillar  is  produced  by  a  simple  emission  of  liquid  matter 
through  the  orifice  of  the  spinner,  and  that  it  acquires  solidity 
at  once  from  the  drying  influence  of  the  air.  It  was  easy  to 
entertain  such  an  hypothesis,  for  nothing  is  more  simple  than 
the  formation  of  a  very  fine  thread  by  such  a  process.  But  a 
little  reflection  will  soon  show  us,  even  a  priori^  that  it  is  not 
possible ;  for  how  can  we  comprehend  that  so  fine  a  fibre,  liquid 
at  the  instant  of  its  issue  from  the  aperture,  should  instantly 
acquire  such  a  consistence  as  to  bear  the  weight  of  the  animal 
suspended  by  it,  and  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  rapidly  pro- 
duced ?  Though  the  fluid,  holding  the  silk  in  solution,  should 
be  quickly  volatilised,  it  must  still  be  a  matter  of  conjecture, 
how  the  animal  suspended  by  this  thread  could  be  able  to  ar- 
rest its  issue,  holding  on  only  by  the  thread  itself,  for  it  cannot 
pinch  the  thread,  seeing  that  it  is  only  in  a  liquid  state  inside, 
and  the  thread  cannot  be  glued  to  the  edge  of  the  opening,  as 
its  rapid  adhesion  would  prevent  its  issue  while  the  animal  is 
spinning.  A  little  examination  would  satisfy  us  that  silk  can- 
not be  produced  in  this  manner,  but  that  it  is  secreted  in  the 
form  of  silk  in  the  silk  vessels,  and  that  the  spinning  appara- 
tus only  winds  it.  The  thread  is  produced  in  the  slender  pos- 
terior part  of  the  vessel,  the  inflated  portion  of  which  consists 
of  the  reservoir  of  ready  formed  silk,  where  it  is  found  in  the 
form  of  a  skein  ;  each  thread  being  rolled  up  so  as  to  occupy 
in  the  silk-worm  (Bombex  mori)  a  space  of  only  about  a  sixth 
part  of  the  real  length  of  the  skein.  The  fact  is  shown  by  the 
following  experiment  I  made  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
whether  the  silk  is  formed  in  the  body  of  the  caterpillars. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILK-WORM. 


117 


c  Take  one  of  the  animals  when  about  to  form  its  cocoon, 
clean  it  in  common  vinegar,  in  which  it  may  remain  from 
four  to  six  hours,  open  it  on  the  back  and  extract  the  silk 
vessels,  there  being  one  on  each  side  of  the  alimentary  canal. 
Take  them  up  by  the  hinder  end,  just  where  they  begin  to 
swell  {further  back  the  silk  is  not  solid  enough),  and  draw 
them  out.  The  membrane  forming  the  vessel  is  easily  torn 
open,  and  the  contents  expand  to  six  or  seven  times  its  orig- 
inal length.  The  skein  having  attained  its  full  length  by 
the  letting  out  of  its  gathers,  we  obtain  a  cord  perfectly  equal 
in  size  throughout,  except  at  the  end,  where  it  is  attenuated. 
This  cord  resembles  a  large  horse-hair,  and  constitutes  what 
fishermen  call  "  Florence  hair?  I  ought  to  add  that  in  simply 
drawing  out  the  silk  vessel,  the  Florence  hair  is  found  envel- 
oped in  a  golden  yellow  gummy  matter,  formkig  the  glutinous 
portion  by  which  the  worm  fastens  its  thread.  This  must  be 
got  rid  of  by  drawing  the  cord  through  the  fold  formed  on  the 
inside  of  the  joint  of  the  left  fore  finger,  converted  into  a  canal 
by  applying  to  it  the  end  of  the  thumb.  The  glutinous  sub- 
stance and  the  membranes  being  thus  separated,  we  have  the 
naked  hair.  In  this  state,  before  the  silk  becomes  dry  and 
hard,  not  only  will  it  be  indefinitely  divided  longitudinally, 
which  proves  its  fibrous  structure,  but  in  trying  to  split  it  by 
drawing  it  transversely,  the  little  filaments  of  silk  which  form 
it  are  perfectly  separated,  making  a  bundle  of  extremely  fine 
fibrils? 

We  cannot  better  conclude  this  interesting  portion  of  our 
subject,  than  by  quoting  the  following  beautiful  lines  by  Miss 
H.  F.  Gould  :— 

THE  SILK-WORM'S  WILL. 

On  a  plain  rush  hurdle  a  silk-worm  lay, 
When  a  proud  young  princess  came  that  way : 
The  haughty  child  of  a  human  king, 
Threw  a  sidelong  glance  at  the  humble  thing, 
That  took,  with  a  silent  gratitude, 
From  the  mulberry  leaf,  her  simple  food  ; 
And  shrunk,  half  scorn  and  half  disgust, 
Away  from  her  sister  child  of  dust — 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


Declaring  she  never  yet  could  see 

Why  a  reptile  form  like  this  should  be, 

And  that  she  was  not  made  with  nerves  so  firm, 

As  calmly  to  stand  by  a  "  crawling  worm  !" 

With  mute  forbearance  the  silk-worm  took 
The  taunting  words,  and  the  spurning  look : 
Alike  a  stranger  to  self  and  pride, 
She'd  no  disquiet  from  aught  beside — 
And  lived  of  a  meekness  and  peace  possessed. 
Which  these  debar  from  the  human  breast. 
She  only  wished,  for  the  harsh  abuse, 
To  find  some  way  to  become  of  use 
To  the  haughty  daughter  of  lordly  man ; 
And  thus  did  she  lay  a  noble  plan, 
To  teach  her  wisdom,  and  make  it  plain, 
That  the  humble  worm  was  not  made  in  vain ; 
A  plan  so  generous,  deep  and  high, 
That,  to  carry  it  out,  she  must  even  die ! 

"  No  more,"  said  she,  "  will  I  drink  or  eat ! 
I'll  spin  and  weave  me  a  winding-sheet, 
To  wrap  me  up  from  the  sun's  clear  light, 
And  hide  my  form  from  her  wounded  sight. 
In  secret  then,  till  my  end  draws  nigh, 
I'll  toil  for  her  ;  and  when  I  die, 
-  I'll  leave  behind,  as  a  farewell  boon, 
To  the  proud  young  princess,  my  whole  cocoon, 
To  be  reeled  and  wove  to  a  shining  lace, 
And  hung  in  a  veil  o'er  her  scornful  face  ! 
And  when  she  can  calmly  draw  her  breath 
Through  the  very  threads  that  have  caused  my  death 

When  she  finds,  at  length,  she  has  nerves  so  firm 
As  to  wear  the  shroud  of  a  crawling  worm, 
May  she  bear  in  mind,  that  she  walks  with  pride 
In  the  winding-sheet  where  the  silk-worm  died  !" 


Sflk-'Woim  Cocoops,  Chrysalis.  Ifcths,  and  Firm  a. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  CHINESE  MODE 
OF  REARING  SILK-WORMS,  &c. 

Great  antiquity  of  the  silk-manufacture  in  China — Time  and  mode  of  pruning  the 
Mulberry-tree — Not  allowed  to  exceed  a  certain  height — Mode  of  planting — 
Situation  of  rearing-rooms,  and  their  construction — Effect  of  noise  on  the  silk- 
worm— Precautions  observed  in  preserving  cleanliness — Isan-mon,  mother  of 
the  worms — Manner  of  feeding — Space  allotted  to  the  worms — Destruction  of 
the  Chrysalides — Great  skill  of  the  Chinese  in  weaving — American  writers  on  tho 
Mulberry-tree — Silk-worms  sometimes  reared  on  trees — (M.  Marteloy's  ex- 
periments in  1764,  in  rearing  silk-worms  on  trees  in  France) — Produce  inferior 
to  that  of  worms  reared  in  houses — Mode  of  delaying  the  hatching  of  the  eggs 
— Method  of  hatching — Necessity  for  preventing  damp — Number  of  meals — 
Mode  of  stimulating  the  appetite  of  the  worms — Effect  of  this  upon  the  quan- 
tity of  silk  produced — Darkness  injurious  to  the  silk-worm — Its  effect  on  the 
Mulberry -leaves — Mode  of  preparing  the  cocoons  for  the  reeling  process — Wild 
silk-worms  of  India — Mode  of  hatching,  &c. — (Observations  on  the  cultivation 
of  silk  by  Dr.  Stebbins — Dr.  Bowring's  admirable  illustration  of  the  mutual  de- 
pendence of  the  arts  upon  each  other.) 

In  China,  the  tradition  of  the  silk  culture  is,  as  already- 
shown,  carried  back  into  the  mythological  periods,  and  dates 
with  the  origin  of  agriculture  itself.  These  two  pursuits  or 
avocations,  namely,  husbandry  and  the  silk-manufacture,  form 
the  subject  of  one  of  the  sixteen  discourses  to  the  people.  It 
is  there  observed,  that  "  from  ancient  times  the  Son  of  Heaven 
directed  the  plough :  the  Empress  planted  the  mulberry-tree. 
Thus  have  these  exalted  personages,  not  above  the  practice  of 
labor  and  exertion,  set  an  example  to  all  men,  with  a  view  to 
leading  the  millions  of  their  subjects  to  attend  to  their  essential 
interests." 

In  the  work  published  by  Imperial  authority,  entitled  "  Illus- 
trations of  Husbandry  and  Weaving*,"  there  are  numerous 


*  The  drawing,  plate  I.  (Frontispiece)  is  a  faithful  copy  of  a  loom  represented 
in  this  curious  work.  For  this  representation  of  a  Chinese  weaving  engine,  as 
well  as  several  translations,  explanatory  of  the  silk-manufacture,  &c,  we  are  in- 


120         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

wood-cuts,:  accompanied  by  letter-press  explanatory  of  the  dif- 
ferent processes  of  farming  and  the  silk-manufacture.  The 
former  head  is  confined  to  the  production  of  rice,  the  staple  ar- 
ticle of  food,  and  proceeds  from  the  ploughing  of  the  land  to 
the  packing  of  the  grain ;  the  latter  details  all  the  operations 
connected  with  planting  the  mulberry  and  gathering  its  leaves, 
up  to  the  final  weaving  of  the  silk. 

The  mulberry-tree  is  chiefly  cultivated  in  Che-kiang,  which 
province,  together  with  the  only  three  others  that  produce  fine 
silk,  namely,  Kiang-nan,  Woo-pe,  and  Sze-chuen,  is  crossed  by 
the  thirtieth  parallel  of  latitude.  Che-kiang  is  a  country 
highly  alluvial,  intersected  by  numerous  rivers  and  canals,  with 
a  climate  that  corresponds  pretty  nearly  to  the  same  latitude  as 
that  in  the  United  States  of  America.  The  soil  is  manured 
with  mud,  dug  from  the  rivers,  assisted  with  ashes  or  dung; 
and  the  spaces  between  the  trees  are  generally  filled  with  mil- 
let, pulse,  or  other  articles  of  food.  The  time  for  pruning  the 
young  trees,  so  as  to  produce  fine  leafy  shoots,  is  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  year.  About  four  eyes  are  left  on  every 
shoot,  and  care  is  taken  that  the  branches  be  properly  thinned, 
with  a  view  to  giving  plenty  of  light  and  air  to  the  leaves.  In 
gathering  these,  they  make  use  of  steps,  as  the  young  trees 
could  not  support  a  ladder,  and  would  besides  be  injured  in  their 
branches  by  the  use  of  one.  The  trees,  with  their  foliage,  are 
carefully  watched,  and  the  mischiefs  of  insects  prevented  by 
the  use  of  various  applications,  among  which  are  some  essen- 
tial oils. 

The  young  trees  of  course  suffer  by  being  stripped  of  their 
leaves,  which  are  the  lungs  of  plants,  and  this  is  an  additional 
reason  for  renewing  them  after  a  certain  time.  They  endeav- 
or in  part  to  counteract  the  evil  effect,  by  pruning  and  lop- 
ping the  tree,  so  as  to  diminish  the  wood  when  the  leaves  have 
 *  

debted  to  Walter  Lowry,  Esq.,  Sec.  to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions in  this  city ;  who  kindly  permitted  us  to  copy  it  from  the  original  plate, 
forming  a  part  of  the  interesting  work  above  referred  to,  which  is  composed  of 
seventy -five  volumes,  and  was,  as  we  understand,  presented  to  the  Board  by  a 
New  York  merchant.  Many  of  the  illustrations  are  extremely  beautiful,  reflect- 
ing the  highest  credit  upon  the  artisans  of  the  "  Celestial  Empire." 


CHINESE   MODE   OF  REARING  ^S&K-^T$Lp^  jfi'm.  121 

been  gathered.  It  is  surprising,  how&^i^o/^^H^mow  soon 
a  tree  in  those  climates  will  recover  its  leavesTrTlhe  summer  or 


autumn,  after  having  been  entirely  stripped  of  them  by  a  ty- 
phoon or  hurricane.  Fresh  plants  are  procured  by  cuttings  or 
layers,  and  sometimes  from  seed.  When  the  trees  grow  too 
old  for  the  production  of  the  finest  leaves,  and  show  a  greater 
tendency  to  fruiting,  they  are  either  removed  or  so  cut  and 
managed  as  to  produce  young  branches. 

The  principal  object,  in  the  cultivation  of  the  mulberry,  is  to 
produce  the  greatest  quantity  of  young  and  healthy  leaves 
without  fruit.  For  this  reason  the  trees  are  not  allowed  to  ex- 
ceed a  certain  age  and  height.  They  are  planted  on  the  plan 
of  a  quincunx*,  and  said  to  be  in  perfection  in  about  three 
years. 

Mr.  Barrow,  who  observed  the  management  of  the  trees  and 
silk-worms  in  Che-kiang,  confirms  the  usual  Chinese  accounts, 
by  saying  that "  the  houses  in  which  the  worms  are  reared  are 
placed  generally  in  the  centre  of  each  plantation,  in  order  that 
they  may  be  removed  as  far  as  possible  from  every  kind  of 
noise  ;  experience  having  taught  them  that  a  sudden  shout,  015 
the  bark  of  a  dog,  is  destructive  of  the  young  worms.  A 
whole  brood  has  sometimes  perished  from  the  effects  of  a  thun- 
der-storm." 

Some  notion  of  the  extent  of  the  care  required  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  worms  may  be  formed  from  the  following  ex- 
tract, taken  from  the  Chinese  work  referred  to  at  the  beginning 
of  this  chapter. 

"  The  place  where  their  habitation  is  built  must  be  retired, 
free  from  noise,  smells,  and  disturbances  of  every  kind.  The 
least  fright,  makes  great  impressions  on  these  sensitive  crea- 
tures ;  even  the  barking  of  dogs,  &c3  is  capable  of  throwing 
them  into  the  utmost  disorder. 

For  the  purpose  of  paying  them  every  attention  an  affection- 
ate mother  is  provided,  who  is  careful  to  supply  their  wants ; 

*  In  gardening,  the  quincunx  order  is  a  plantation  of  trees  disposed  in  a 
square,  consisting  of  five  trees,  one  at  each  corner  and  a  fifth  in  the  centre,  which 
order  repeated  indefinitely,  forms  a  regular  grove  or  wood,  viewed  by  an  angle  of 
the  square  or  parallelogram,  presents  equal  or  parallel  alleys. 


16 


122        CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

she  is  called  Isan-mon,  1  mother  of  the  worms.'  She  takes 
possession  of  the  chamber,  but  not  before  she  has  washed  her- 
self  and  put  on  clean  clothes,  which  have  not  the  least  repul- 
sive smell ;  she  must  not  have  eaten  anything  immediately  be- 
fore, or  handled  any  wild  succory,  the  smell  of  which  is  very 
prejudicial.  She  must  be  clothed  in  a  plain  habit,  without  any 
lining,  that  she  may  be  more  sensible  of  the  warmth  of  the 
place,  and  accordingly  increase  or  lessen  the  fire.  She  must 
also  carefully  avoid  making  a  smoke  or  raising  a  dust,  which 
would  also  be  offensive." 

Silk-worms  require  to  be  carefully  humored  before  the  time 
of  casting  their  slough.  Every  day  is  to  them  a  year,  having 
in  a  manner,  the  four  seasons ;  the  morning  being  the  Spring ; 
the  middle  of  the  day  :  Summer ;  the  evening :  Autumn  ;  and 
the  night,  Winter. 

The  chambers  are  so  contrived  as  to  admit  of  the  use  of  ar- 
tificial heat  when  necessary.  Great  care  is  taken  of  the  sheets 
of  paper  on  which  the  eggs  have  been  laid  ;  and  the  hatching 
is  either  retarded  or  advanced,  by  the  application  of  cold  or  heat 
according  to  circumstances,  so  as  to  time  the  simultaneous  exit 
of  the  young  worms  exactly  to  the  period  when  the  tender 
spring-leaves  of  the  mulberry  are  most  fit  for  their  nourishment. 

They  proportion  the  food  very  exactly  to  the  young  worms 
by  weighing  the  leaves,  which  in  the  first  instance  are  cut,  but 
as  the  insects  become  larger,  are  given  to  them  whole.  The 
greatest  precautions  being  observed  in  regulating  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  apartments.  The  worms  are  fed  upon  a  species  of 
small  hurdles  of  basket-work,  strewed  with  leaves,  which  are 
constantly  shifted  for  the  sake  of  cleanliness,  the  insects  readily 
moving  off  to  a  fresh  hurdle  with  new  leaves,  as  the  scent  at- 
tracts them.  In  proportion  to  their  growth,  room  is  afforded  to 
them  by  increasing  the  number  of  these  hurdles,  the  worms  of 
one  being  shifted  to  three,  then  to  six,  and  so  on  until  they  at- 
tain their  greatest  size.  When  they  have  cast  their  several 
skins,  reached  their  greatest  size,  and  assumed  a  transparent 
yellowish  color,  they  are  removed  to  places  divided  into  compart- 
ments, preparatory  to  casting  forth  their  silken  filaments. 

In  the  course  of  a  week  after  the  commencement  of  this  op- 


CHINESE  MODE  OP  REARING  SILK-WORMS,  ETC.  123 

eration,  the  cocoons  are  complete,  and  it  now  becomes  neces- 
sary to  take  them  in  hand  before  the  pupae  turn  into  moths. 
which  would  immediately  bore  their  way  out,  and  spoil  the  co- 
coons. When  a  certain  number,  therefore,  have  been  laid  aside 
for  the  sake  of  future  eggs,  the  chrysalides  are  killed  by  being 
placed  in  jars  under  layers  of  salt  and  leaves,  with  a  complete 
exclusion  of  air.  They  are  subsequently  placed  in  moderately 
warm  water,  which  dissolves  the  glutinous  substance  that  binds 
the  silk  together,  and  the  filament  is  wound  off  upon  reels. 
This  is  put  up  in  bundles  of  a  certain  size  and  weight,  and 
either  becomes  an  article  of  merchandise  under  the  name  of 
"  raw  silk,"  or  is  subjected  to  the  loom,  and  manufactured  into 
various  stuffs,  for  home  or  foreign  consumption.  The  Chinese 
notwithstanding  the  simplicity  of  their  looms  (see  frontispiece), 
will  imitate  exactly  the  newest  and  most  elegant  patterns  from 
France.  They  particularly  excel  in  the  production  of  damasks \ 
figured-satins^  and  embroidery.  Their  crape  has  never  yet 
been  perfectly  imitated ;  and  they  make  a  species  of  washing 
silk,  called  at  Canton  "  ponge,"  which,  the  longer  it  is  used,  the 
softer  it  becomes. 

The  Chinese  have  from  time  immemorial  been  celebrated  for 
the  beauty  of  their  embroideries  ;  indeed,  it  has  been  doubted 
whether  the  art  was  not  originally  introduced  into  Europe  by 
them,  through  the  Persians. 

Prom  what  has  been  said,  it  is  evident  that  the  raising  of  the 
mulberry-tree  should  first  engage  the  attention  of  the  cultiva- 
tor, since  its  leaves  form  the  almost  exclusive  nourishment  of 
the  silk-worm.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  that  we  should  in  a 
work  of  this  description  enter  more  fully  into  the  cultivation  of 
the  mulberry-tree.  This  has  already  been  so  ably  done  by 
Jonathan  Cobb,  Esq.  of  Dedham,  Mass.,  Dr.  Pascalis  of  New 
York,  Judge  Comstock  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  E.  P.  Roberts, 
Esq.  of  Baltimore,  as  to  leave  no  stone  unturned,  or  any  want 
upon  the  subject. 

In  such  parts  of  the  Chinese  empire  where  the  climate  is  fa- 
vorable to  the  practice,  and  where  alone,  most  probably,  the 
silk-worm  is  indigenous,  it  remains  at  liberty,  feeding  on  the 
leaves  of  its  native  mulberry-tree,  and  going  through  all  its  mu- 


124         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


tations  among  the  branches,  uncontrolled  by  the  hand  and  un- 
assisted by  the  cares  of  man.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  silken 
balls  have  been  constructed,  they  are  appropriated  by  the  uni- 
versal usurper,  who  spares  only  the  few  required  to  reproduce 
their  numbers,  and  thus  furnish  him  with  successive  harvests*. 

This  silk,  the  spontaneous  offering  of  nature,  is  not,  however, 
equal  in  fineness  to  that  produced  by  worms  under  shelter,  and 
whose  progressions  are  influenced  by  careful  management. 
Much  attention  is,  therefore,  bestowed  by  the  Chinese  in  the 
artificial  rearing  of  silk-worms.  One  of  their  principal  cares, 
is  to  prevent  the  too  early  hatching  of  the  eggs,  to  which  the 
nature  c  f  the  climate  so  strongly  disposes  them.  The  mode 
of  insuring  the  requisite  delay,  is,  to  cause  the  moth  to  deposit 
her  eggs  on  large  sheets  of  paper :  these,  immediately  upon 
their  production,  are  suspended  from  a  beam  in  the  room,  while 
the  windows  are  opened  to  expose  them  to  the  air.  In  a  few 
days  the  papers  are  taken  down  and  rolled  loosely  up  with  the 
eggs  inside,  in  which  form  they  are  again  hung  during  the 
remainder  of  the  summer  and  autumn.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  year  they  are  immersed  in  cold  water  wherein  a  small  por- 
tion of  salt  has  been  dissolved.  In  this  state  the  eggs  are  left 
during  two  days  ;  and  on  being  taken  from  the  salt  and  water 
are  first  hung  to  dry,  and  then  rolled  up  rather  more  tightly 
than  before,  each  sheet  of  paper  being  thereafter  inclosed  in  a 


*  Mons.  Marteloy  of  Montpelier,  who  made  many  experiments  upon  the  rear- 
ing of  silk-worms,  presented  a  memorial  upon  the  subject  to  the  French  minister, 
in  compliance  with  whose  recommendation,  a  few  silk  growers  of  Languedoc 
caused  an  experiment  to  be  publicly  made  in  the  open  air,  in  the  garden  belong- 
ing to  the  Jesuits'  college  at  Montpelier.  The  whole  was  placed  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mons.  Marteloy,  who  had  1200  livres  assigned  to  him  to  defray  the  neces- 
sary expenses.  The  experiment  succeeded  perfectly.  This  was  in  1764.  In 
the  following  year  a  second  trial  was  made,  and  1800  livres  were  set  apart  for 
the  expenses.  Owing,  however,  to  the  unfavorable  nature  of  the  season,  this  ex- 
periment failed  entirely,  the  heavy  and  incessant  rains  making  it  impossible  to 
keep  the  food  of  the  worms  in  a  sufficiently  dry  state.  The  rearing  of  silk-worms 
in  the  open  air  was  not  again  attempted  in  that  quarter ;  but  the  partial  success 
led  to  the  adoption  among  cultivators  of  a  better  system  of  ventilation,  and  the 
production  of  silk  was  about  this  time  very  much  extended  throughout  Langue- 
doc.— Obs.  on  the  Culture  of  Silk,  by  A.  Stephenson. 


CHINESE  MODE  OF  REARING  SILK-WORMS,  ETC.  125 

separate  earthen  vessel.  Some  persons,  who  are  exceedingly 
particular  in  their  processes,  use  a  lye  made  of  mulberry-tree 
ashes,  and  place  the  eggs  likewise,  during  some  minutes,  on 
snow-water. 

These  processes  appear  efficacious  for  checking  the  hatching, 
until  the  expanding  leaves  of  the  mulberry-tree  give  notice  to 
the  silk-worm-rearer  that  he  may  take  measures  for  bringing 
forth  his  brood.  For  this  purpose  the  rolls  of  paper  are  taken 
from  the  earthen  vessels,  and  hung  up  towards  the  sun,  the 
side  to  which  the  eggs  adhere  being  turned  from  its  rays,  by 
being  placed  inside,  and  thus  allowing  the  heat  to  be  transmit- 
ted to  them  through  the  paper.  In  the  evening  the  sheets  are 
rolled  closely  up  and  placed  in  a  warm  situation.  The  same 
proceeding  is  repeated  on  the  following  day,  when  the  eggs  as- 
sume a  grayish  color.  On  the  evening  of  the  third  day,  after 
a  similar  exposure,  they  are  found  to  be  of  a  much  darker  color, 
nearly  approaching  to  black ;  and  the  following  morning,  on 
the  paper  being  unrolled,  they  are  covered  with  worms.  In  the 
higher  latitudes  the  Chinese  have  recourse  to  the  heat  of  stoves, 
in  order  to  promote  the  simultaneous  hatching  of  the  eggs. 

The  apartments  in  which  the  worms  are  kept  stand  in  dry 
situations,  in  a  pure  atmosphere,  and  apart  from  all  noise,  which 
is  thought  to  be  annoying  to  the  worms,  especially  when  they 
are  young.  The  rooms  are  made  very  close,  but  adequate 
means  of  ventilation  provided:  the  doors  being  open  to  the 
south.  Each  chamber  is  provided  with  nine  or  ten  rows  of 
frames,  placed  one  above  the  other.  On  these  frames,  rush 
hurdles  are  ranged ;  upon  which  the  worms  are  fed  through 
their  five  ages.  A  uniform  degree  of  heat  is  constantly  pre- 
served, either  by  means  of  stoves  placed  in  the  corners  of  the 
apartments,  or  by  chafing-dishes  which  from  time  to  time  are 
carried  up  and  down  the  room.  Flame  and  smoke  being  al- 
ways carefully  avoided :  cow-dung  dried  in  the  sun  is  preferred 
by  the  Chinese  to  all  other  kinds  of  fuel  for  this  purpose. 

The  most  unremitting  attention  is  paid  to  the  wants  of  the 
worms,  which  are  fed  night  and  day.  On  their  being  hatched 
they  are  furnished  with  forty  meals  for  the  first  day,  thirty  are 
given  on  the  second  day,  and  fewer  on  and  after  the  third. 


126         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

The  Chinese  believe  that  the  growth  of  silk-worms  is  accel- 
erated, and  their  success  promoted  by  the  abundance  of  their 
food,  and  therefore,  in  cloudy  and  damp  weather,  when  the 
insects  are  injuriously  affected  by  the  state  of  the  atmosphere, 
their  appetites  are  stimulated  by  a  wisp  of  very  dry  straw  being 
lighted  and  held  over  them,  thus  causing  the  cold  and  damp 
air  to  be  dissipated. 

The  Chinese  calculate  that  the  same  number  of  insects 
which  would,  if  they  had  attained  the  full  size  in  twenty-three 
or  twenty-four  days,  produce  twenty-five  ounces  of  silk,  would 
give  only  twenty  ounces  if  their  growth  occupied  twenty-eight 
days,  and  only  ten  ounces  if  forty  days.  In  order,  therefore,  to 
accelerate  their  growth,  they  supply  them  with  fresh  food  every 
half-hour  during  the  first  day  of  their  existence,  and  then  grad- 
ually reduce  the  number  of  meals  as  the  worms  grow  older. 
It  deserves  to  be  remarked  as  a  fact  unnoticed  in  Natural  The- 
ology, that  the  substance  on  which  this  valuable  caterpillar 
feeds,  is  the  leaf  of  the  mulberry-tree  ;  and  Providence,  as  if  to 
ensure  the  continuance  of  this  useful  species,  has  so  ordained 
it  that  no  other  insect  will  partake  of  the  same  food ;  thus  en- 
suring a  certain  supply  for  the  little  spinster. 

Many  persons  believe  that  light  is  injurious  to  silk- worms ;  - 
but,  so  far  from  this  opinion  being  correct,  the  opposite  belief 
would  probably  be  nearer  to  the  truth.  In  its  native  state,  the 
insect  is  of  course  exposed  to  light,  and  suffers  no  inconvenience 
on  that  account ;  and  it  has  been  observed  by  one  who  gave 
much  attention  to  the  subject  (Count  Dandolo),  that  in  his 
establishment,  "  on  the  side  on  which  the  sun  shone  directly 
on  the  hurdles,  the  silk-worms  were  stronger  and  more  numer- 
ous than  in  those  places  where  the  edge  of  the  wicker  hurdle 
formed  a  shade."  The  obscurity  wherein  the  apartments  are 
usually  kept  has  a  very  pernicious  influence  on  the  air :  the 
food  of  the  worms  emits  in  light  oxygen,  or  vital  air,  while  in 
darkness  it  exhales  carbonic  acid  gas,  unfit  for  respiration. 
This  well-known  fact  occurs  alike  with  all  leaves  similarly 
circumstanced*.    To  the  bad  effects  thus  arising  from  the  ex- 


*  "  There  is  in  the  order  of  nature  a  certain  and  very  surprising  fact ;  when 


CHTNESE  MODE  OF  REARING  SILK-WORMS,  ETC.  127 


elusion  of  the  sun's  rays,  another  evil  is  added  by  the  nature 
of  the  artificial  lights  employed,  being  such  as  still  further  to 
vitiate  the  air. 

An  almost  incredible  quantity  of  fluid  is  constantly  disen- 
gaged by  evaporation  from  the  bodies  of  the  insects  ;  and  if 
means  be  not  taken  to  disperse  this  as  it  is  produced,  another 
cause  of  unwholesomeness  in  the  air  arises.  Noticing  this, 
Count  Dandolo  observes,  "  This  series  of  causes  of  the  deterio- 
ration of  the  air  which  the  worms  must  inhale,  may  be  termed 
a  continual  conspiracy  against  their  health  and  life ;  and  their 
resisting  it,  and  living  throughout  shows  them  to  have  great 
strength  of  constitution." 

In  seven  days  from  the  commencement  of  the  cocoons  they 
are  collected  in  heaps ;  those  which  are  designed  to  continue 


the  leaves  of  vegetables  are  struck  by  the  sun's  rays,  they  exhale  an  immense 
quantity  of  vital  air  necessary  to  the  life  of  animals,  and  which  they  consume  by 
respiration. 

"  These  same  leaves  in  the  shade  as  well  as  in  darkness  exhale  an  immense 
quantity  of  mephitic  or  fixed  air,  which  cannot  be  inhaled  without  destruction  of 
life. 

"  This  influence  of  the  sun  does  not  cease  even  when  the  leaf  has  been  recently 
gathered  ;  on  the  contrary,  in  darkness,  gathered  leaves  will  exhale  a  still  greater 
quantity  of  mephitic  air. 

"  Place  one  ounce  of  fresh  mulberry  leaves  in  a  wide-necked  bottle  of  the  sizo 
of  a  Paris  pint,  containing  two  pounds  of  liquid  ;  expose  this  bottle  to  the  sun  ; 
about  an  hour  afterwards,  according  to  the  intensity  of  the  sun,  reverse  the  bottle 
and  introduce  a  lighted  taper  in  it ;  this  done,  the  light  will  become  brighter, 
whiter,  and  larger,  which  proves  that  the  vital  air  contained  in  the  bottle  has  in- 
creased by  that  which  has  disengaged  itself  from  the  leaves :  to  demonstrate  this 
phenomenon  more  clearly,  a  taper  may  be  put  in  a  similar  bottle,  that  only  con- 
tains the  air  which  has  entered  into  it  by  its  being  uncorked.  Shortly  after  the 
first  experiment,  water  will  be  found  in  the  bottle  which  contained  the  mulberry 
leaves ;  this  water,  evaporating  from  the  leaves  by  means  of  the  heat,  hangs  on 
the  sides,  and  runs  to  the  bottom  when  cooling ;  the  leaves  appear  more  or  less 
withered  and  dry  according  to  the  liquid  they  have  lost.  In  another  similar  bot- 
tle place  an  ounce  of  leaves,  and  cork  it  exactly  like  the  former ;  place  it  in  ob- 
scurity, either  in  a  box,  or  wrap  it  in  cloths,  in  short,  so  as  totally  to  exclude 
light ;  about  two  hours  after,  open  the  bottle,  and  put  either  a  lighted  taper  or  a 
small  bird  into  it ;  the  candle  will  go  out,  and  the  bird  will  perish,  as  if  they  had 
been  plunged  into  water,  which  demonstrates  that  in  darkness  the  leaves  have 
exhaled  mephitic  air,  while  in  the  sun  they  exhaled  vital  air." — Count  Dando- 
lo's  Treatise  on  the  Art  of  Rearing  Silk-worms,  p.  144. 


128         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

the  breed  being  first  selected  and  set  apart  on  hurdles,  in  a 
dry  and  airy  situation.  The  next  care,  is  to  destroy  the  vital- 
ity of  the  chrysalides  in  those  balls  which  are  to  be  reeled. 
The  most  approved  method  of  performing  this,  is  to  fill  large 
earthen  vessels  with  cocoons,  in  layers,  throwing  in  one-fortieth 
part  of  their  weight  of  salt  upon  each  layer,  covering  the  whole 
with  large  dry  leaves  resembling  those  of  the  water-lilly,  and 
then  closely  stopping  the  mouths  of  the  vessels.  In  reeling 
their  silk  the  Chinese  separate  the  thick  and  dark  from  the 
long  and  glittering  white  cocoons,  as  the  produce  of  the  former 
is  inferior. 

We  are  indebted  to  Dr.  Ure  for  the  two  following  articles 
{extracted  from  the  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society,  for  Jan- 
uary, 1837),  on  wild  silk- worms.  The  first  article  is  from  the 
pen  of  Thomas  Hugon,  a  resident  of  Nowgong,  and  relates  to 
wild  silk- worms  of  Assam. 

"The  Assamese  select  for  breeding,  such  cocoons  only  as  have 
been  begun  to  be  formed  in  the  largest  number  on  the  same 
day,  usually  the  second  or  third  after  the  commencement ; 
those  which  contain  males  being  distinguishable  by  a  more 
pointed  end.  They  are  put  in  a  closed  basket  suspended  from 
the  roof ;  the  moths,  as  they  come  forth,  having  room  to  move 
about,  at  the  expiration  of  a  day,  the  females  (known  only  by 
their  large  body)  are  taken  out,  and  tied  to  small  wisps  of 
thatching-straw,  selected  always  from  over  the  hearth,  its  dark- 
ened color  being  thought  more  acceptable  to  the  insect.  If  out 
of  a  batch,  there  should  be  but  few  males  ;  the  wisps  with  the 
females  tied  to  them  are  exposed  outside  at  night ;  and  the 
males  thrown  away  in  the  neighborhood,  find  their  way  to 
them.  These  wisps  are  hung  upon  a  string  tied  across  the 
roof,  to  keep  them  from  vermin.  The  eggs  laid  after  the  first 
three  days,  are  said  to  produce  weak  worms.  The  wisps  are 
taken  out  morning  and  evening,  and  exposed  to  the  sun,  and 
in  ten  days  after  being  laid,  a  few  of  them  are  hatched.  The 
wisps  being  then  hung  up  to  the  tree,  the  young  worms  find 
their  way  to  the  leaves.  The  ant,  whose  bite  is  fatal  to  the 
worm  in  its  early  stages,  is  destroyed  by  rubbing  the  trunk  of 
the  tree  with  molasses,  and  tying  dead  fish  and  toads  to  it,  to 


CHINESE  MODE   OF  RAISING  SILK-WORMS,   ETC.  129 

attract  these  rapacious  insects  in  large  numbers,  when  they  are 
destroyed  with  fire  ;  a  process  which  needs  to  be  repeated  seve- 
ral times.  The  ground  under  the  trees  is  also  well  cleared,  to 
render  it  easy  to  pick  up  and  replace  the  worms  which  fall 
down.  They  are  prevented  from  coming  to  the  ground,  by 
tying  fresh  plantain-leaves  round  the  trunk,  over  whose  slip- 
pery surface  they  cannot  crawl ;  and  then  transferred  from 
exhausted  trees  to  fresh  ones,  on  bamboo  platters  tied  to  long 
poles.  The  worms  require  to  be  constantly  watched  and  pro- 
tected from  the  depredations  of  both  day  and  night  birds,  as 
well  as  rats  and  other  vermin.  During  their  moultings,  they 
remain  on  the  branches ;  but  when  about  beginning  to  spin, 
they  come  down  the  trunk,  and  being  stopped  by  the  plantain- 
leaves,  are  there  collected  in  baskets,  which  are  afterwards  put 
under  bunches  of  dry  leaves,  suspended  from  the  roof,  into 
which  the  worms  crawl,  and  form  their  cocoons — several  being 
clustered  together :  this  accident,  owing  to  the  practice  of  crowd- 
ing the  worms,  which  is  most  injudicious,  rendering  it  impos- 
sible to  wind  off  their  silk  in  continuous  threads,  as  in  the  fila- 
tures of  Italy,  France,  and  even  Bengal.  The  silk  is,  therefore, 
spun  like  flax,  instead  of  being  unwound  in  single  filaments. 
After  four  days  the  proper  cocoons  are  selected  for  the  next 
breed,  and  the  rest  are  reeled.  The  total  duration  of  a  breed 
varies  from  sixty  to  seventy  days  ;  divided  into  the  following 
periods : — 

Four  moultings,  with  one  day's  illness  attending  each,  -  20 

From  fourth  moulting  to  beginning  of  cocoon,  -  -  -  -  10 
In  the  cocoon  20,  as  a  moth  6,  hatching  of  eggs  10,  -     -     -  36 

G6 

"  On  being  tapped  with  the  finger,  the  body  renders  a  hollow 
sound ;  the  quality  of  which  shows  whether  they  have  come 
down  for  want  of  leaves  on  the  tree,  or  from  their  having  ceas- 
ed feeding. 

"  As  the  chrysalis  is  not  soon  killed  by  exposure  to  the  sun, 
the  cocoons  are  put  on  stages,  covered  with  leaves,  and  exposed 
to  the  hot  air  from  grass  burned  under  them ;  they  are  next 
boiled  for  about  an  hour  in  a  solution  of  the  potash,  made  from 

17 


130         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

icinerated  rice-stalks  ;  then  taken  out  and  put  on  a  cloth  folded 
over  them  to  keep  them  warm.  The  floss  being  removed  by 
hand,  they  are  then  thrown  into  a  basin  of  hot  water  to  be  un 
wound ;  which  is  done  in  a  very  rude  and  wasteful  way. 

"  The  plantations  for  the  mooga  silk-worm  in  Lower  Assam, 
amount  to  5000  acres,  besides  what  the  forests  contain ;  and 
yield  1500  maunds  of  84  lbs.  each  per  annum.  Upper  Assam 
is  more  productive. 

"  The  cocoon  of  the  Koutkuri  mooga  is  of  the  size  of  a 
fowl's  egg.  It  is  a  wild  species,  and  affords  filaments  much 
valued  for  fishing-lines. 

{i  The  Arrindy,  or  Eria  worm,  and  moth,  is  reared  over  a 
great  part  of  Hindostan,  but  entirely  within  doors.  It  is  fed 
principally  on  the  Hera,  or  Palma  christi  leaves,  and  gives 
sometimes  12  broods  of  spun  silk  in  the  course  of  a  year.  It 
affords  a  fibre  which  looks  rough  at  first;  but  when  woven, 
becomes  soft  and  silky,  after  repeated  washings.  The  poorest 
people  are  clothed  with  stuff  made  of  it,  which  is  so  durable  as 
to  descend  from  mother  to  daughter.  The  cocoons  are  put  in 
a  close  basket,  and  hung  up  in  the  house,  out  of  reach  of  rats 
and  insects.  When  the  moths  come  forth,  they  are  allowed  to 
move  about  in  the  basket  for  twenty-four  hours ;  after  which 
the  females  are  tied  to  long  reeds  or  canes,  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  to  each,  and  then  hung  up  in  the  house.  Of  the  eggs 
that  are  laid  the  first  three  days,  about  200,  only  are  kept ; 
then  tied  up  for  seed.  When  a  few  of  the  worms  are  hatched, 
the  cloths  are  put  on  small  bamboo  platters  hung  up  in  the 
house,  in  which  they  are  fed  with  tender  leaves.  After  the 
second  moulting,  they  are  removed  to  bunches  of  leaves  sus- 
pended above  the  ground,  beneath  which  a  mat  is  laid  to  re- 
ceive them  when  they  fall.  When  they  cease  to  feed,  they  are 
thrown  into  basketsfull  of  dry  leaves,  among  which  they  form 
their  cocoons,  two  or  three  being  often  discovered  joined  to- 
gether. 

"  The  Saturnia  trifenestrata  has  a  yellow  cocoon  of  a  re- 
markably silky  lustre.  It  lives  on  the  soom-tree  in  Assam,  but 
seems  not  to  be  much  used." 

The  second  article  is  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Heifer,  upon  those 


CHINESE  MODE  OF  REARING  SILK-WORMS,  ETC.  131 

wild  silk-worms  which  are  indigenous  to  India.  Besides  the 
Bombyx  mori,  the  Doctor  enumerates  the  following  seven  spe- 
cies, formerly  unknown : — 1.  "  The  wild  silk- worm  of  the  cen- 
tral provinces,  a  moth  not  larger  than  the  Bombyx  moriP  2. 
"  The  Joree  silk- worm  of  Assam,  Bombyx  religiosce,  which 
spins  a  cocoon  of  a  fine  filament,  with  much  lustre.  It  lives 
upon  the  pipul  tree  (Ficus  religiosa),  which  abounds  in  India, 
and  ought  therefore  to  be  turned  to  account  in  breeding  this 
valuable  moth."  3.  u-  Saturnia  silhetica,  which  inhabits  the 
cassia  mountains  in  Silhet  and  Dacca,  where  its  large  cocoons 
are  spun  into  silk."  4.  "  A  still  larger  Saturnia,  one  of  the 
greatest  moths  in  existence,  measuring  ten  inches  from  the  one 
end  of  the  wing  to  the  other* ;  observed  by  Mr.  Grant,  in 
Chirra  punjeeP  5.  "  Saturnia  paphia,  or  the  Tusseh  silk- 
worm, is  the  most  common  of  the  native  species,  and  furnishes 
the  cloth  usually  worn  by  Europeans  in  India.  It  has  not 
hitherto  been  domesticated,  but  millions  of  its  cocoons  are  an- 
nually collected  in  the  jungles,  and  brought  to  the  silk  factories 
near  Calcutta  and  Bhagelpur.  It  feeds  most  commonly  on  the 
hair-tree  (Zizyphus  jujuba),  but  it  prefers  the  Terminalia  al- 
ata,  or  Assam  tree,  and  the  Bomb  ax  heptaphyllum.  It  is  call- 
ed Koutkuri  mooga,  in  Assam."  6.  "  Another  Saturnia,  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Comercolly."  7.  "  Saturnia  assamensis, 
with  a  cocoon  of  a  yellow-brown  color,  different  from  all  others, 
called  mooga,  in  Assam ;  which,  although  it  can  be  reared  in 
houses,  thrives  best  in  the  open  air  upon  trees,  of  which  seven 
different  kinds  afford  it  food.  The  Mazankoory  mooga,  which 
feeds  on  the  Adakoory  tree,  produces  a  fine  silk,  which  is  nearly 
white,  and  fetches  50  per  cent,  more  than  the  fawn  colored. 
The  trees  of  the  first  year's  growth  produce  by  far  the  most 
valuable  cocoons.  The  mooga  which  inhabits  the  soom-tree, 
is  found  principally  in  the  forests  of  the  plains,  and  in  the  vil- 
lages. The  tree  grows  to  a  large  size,  and  yields  three  crops 
of  leaves  in  the  year.  The  silk  is  of  a  light  fawn  color,  and 
ranks  next  in  value  to  the  Mazankoory.  There  are  generally 
five  breeds  of  mooga  worms  in  the  year;  1.  In  January  and 


*  See  p.  40    Also  p.  54.  (note  *) 


132         CULTIVATION   AND  MANUFACTURE   OF  SILK. 

February ;  2.  In  May  and  June ;  3.  In  June  and  July ;  4.  In 
August  and  September ;  5.  In  October  and  November ;  the  first 
and  last  being  the  most  valuable." 

Dr.  Anderson  informs  us.  that  in  Madras  the  silk-worm  goes 
through  all  its  evolutions  in  the  short  space  of  twenty-two  days. 
It  appears,  however,  that  the  saving  of  time,  and  consequently 
labor,  is  the  only  economy  resulting  from  the  acceleration ;  as 
the  insects  consume  as  much  food  during  their  shorter  period  of 
life,  as  is  assigned  to  the  longer-lived  silk-worms  of  Europe. 

We  extract  the  following  paper,  with  slight  emendations, 
from  Ellsworth's  Report  of  the  Patent  Office  for  the  year  1844, 
being  a  communication  from  Dr.  Stebbins  of  Northampton, 
Mass*.,  to  the  Editor  of  the  American  Agriculturalist,  as  having 
some  bearing  upon  the  present  subject. 

"  As  requested,  I  forward  you  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Gill's  cra- 
dle for  feeding  silk-worms,  (It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  give 
a  drawing  of  it  in  a  work  like  the  present,  which  is  chiefly 
intended  for  the  general  reader,  and  besides,  this  machine 
is  already  sufficiently  known  to  silk  culturists.)  I  have  five 
patches  of  mulberry,  (in  all,  ten  or  twelve  acres,)  two  parcels 
of  which  you  have  seen.  The  one  adjoining  my  garden,  by 
estimation,  may  furnish  foliage  sufficient  for  a  million  and 
a  half  of  worms.  The  mulberries  consist  of  the  white,  black, 
alpine,  broosa,  moretta,  alata,  multicaulis,  Asiatic,  and  large- 
leaf  Canton.  The  two  latter  I  prefer  for  my  own  use — 
the  Canton  for  early  feeding  with  foliage,  and  the  Asiastic  for 
branch  feeding.  The  Canton  is  highly  approved  of  for  produ- 
cing heavy  and  firm  cocoons,  which,  by  competent  testimony 
and  experiments,  have  been  found  in  favor  of  the  Canton  feed 
as  five  to  eight,  and  is  the  true  species  used  by  the  Chinese, 
as  testified  by  a  resident  Missionary,  the  Rev.  E.  C.  Bridg- 
man,  and  more  recently  by  Dr.  Parker,  while  on  his  late  visit 
to  the  United  States.  I  consider  the  peanut  variety  of  worms 
the  best  for  producing  the  most  silk  of  a  good  quality. 

"  From  an  elevated  plat  near  my  cocoonery,  you  had  a  view 
of  our  extensive  meadows  spread  out  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Ho- 


*  See  Chapter  XIII.  p.  211. 


CHINESE  MODE   OF  REARING  SILK-WORMS,  ETC.  133 

lyoke.  My  cocoonery  you  have  examined,  with  its  fixtures  for 
feeding  silk-worms — the  mode  of  open  feeding,  ventilator,  and 
ventilating  cradles.  Since  you  left,  the  whole  has  been  com- 
pleted, with  hammocks  suspended  over  the  cradles,  easily  put  in 
motion,  and  so  constructed  that  no  offal  can  drop  into  the  cradles 
beneath,  nor  interfere  with  the  rocking  motion  or  winding ;  the 
arrangement  is  much  admired,  and  estimated  to  accommodate 
half  a  million  of  worms,  or  more,  to  be  fed  simultaneously. 
About  half  of  the  cocoonery  has  hurdles  of  lattice  work,  cover- 
ed in  part  with  gauze  netting  four  feet  wide  and  the  same 
number  of  tiers  in  height.  The  cocoonery  is  supposed  to  be 
sufficiently  open  on  the  sides,  ends,  and  roof,  to  admit  a  free 
circulation  of  pure  air.    The  flooring  is  the  natural  earth. 

"  The  past  winter  has  been  uncommonly  severe  on  grape-vines 
and  fruit ;  forest  and  mulberry  trees ;  the  Asiatic  I  found  the 
most  hardy  of  any  other,  and  the  Canton  the  earliest  in  foliage. 
On  the  21st  and  22d  of  May  there  were  severe  frosts,  destroy- 
ing garden  vegetables,  and  injuring  some  early  mulberry  foliage ; 
added  to  this,  ice  was  formed  in  many  places.  The  accounts 
from  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  are  so  disastrous  as  to  delay 
early  feeding ;  while  in  Northampton,  June  14,  at  one  of  my 
plantations,  you  saw  silk-worms  in  the  act  of  winding,  and 
others  in  a  good  state  of  forwardness.  On  the  day  of  your  de- 
parture, I  received  a  letter  from  a  distant  silk  grower,  a  staunch 
promoter  of  the  one  early  and  open  crop  system,  that,  on  ac- 
count of  the  unpropitious  season  and  condition  of  his  trees,  he 
would  delay  fetching  out  his  worms  until  the  last  of  June,  and 
then  make  his  great  effort  upon  one  crop. 

"  To  provide  against  premature  hatching  of  silk- worms,  or  the 
disaster  of  an  early  frost,  it  is  advisable  to  have  foliage  gathered 
and  dried  the  year  preceding ;  which,  being  pulverized  and 
moistened  with  water,  may  be  given  to  the  worms  until  new 
foliage  appears  ;  and  they  will  eat  it  freely. 

"  To  obtain  the  most  and  best  foliage  of  the  mulberry,  it  will 
be  necessary  every  Spring  to  cut  or  head  them  down  within 
three  or  four  inches  of  the  ground,  and  preserve  the  stalks  for 
bark-silk.  I  have  a  quantity  of  them  saved  with  bark  peeled 
from  the  large  Asiatics  to  be  used  for  making  bark-silk,  in  ad- 


134         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


dition  to  a  quantity  of  mulberry-leaves  preserved  for  making 
paper.  The  whole  process,  although  not  carried  out,  as  yet,  in 
this  country,  with  either,  has  been  successfully  accomplished  in 
France,  from  proof  shown  by  M.  Frassinet.  I  am  endeavor- 
ing to  have  it  tested  here,  by  subjecting  both  stalk  and  peeled 
bark  to  the  operation  of  steaming  with  soap  and  water,  to  facil- 
itate the  separation  of  the  bark  from  the  wood,  and  the  outside 
cuticle  from  the  fibrous  substance  of  the  bark,  before  trying  the 
operation  of  the  brake  for  dressing,  carding,  spinning,  &c. 
Should  it  prove  successful,  it  will  be  made  public  (See  Mr. 
Zinke's  process,  Chapter  XL).  Hopes  are  entertained  that 
what  has  been  done  may  be  done  again ;  that  Yankee  ingenu- 
ity and  perseverance  may  prove  a  match  for  foreign  cheap  la- 
bor^). 

"  The  present  time  has  been  called  the  age  of  invention  and 
improvement.  But  if  "  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun n 
(a  pretty  fair  illustration  of  this  assertion  of  the  wise  man — 
Vide  Ecclesiastes  i.  9,  10. — will  be  found  in  this  work.) ;  and 
if  what  is,  has  been  and  may  be  again,  then  may  we  hope  to 
be  benefitted  by  the  reproduction  of  astonishing  results  in  all 
coming  time ;  and  even  now,  while  there  has  been  anxious  in- 
quiry for  some  easy  mode  to  separate  the  bark  of  the  mulberry 
from  the  wood,  an  historical  fact  has  been  recently  communi- 
cated^) ;  by  which,  some  two  hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  in 
the  year  1600,  an  accident  occurred,  which  resulted  in  the 
manufacture  of  a  handsome  fabric  from  the  fibrous  bark  of  the 
mulberry,  with  the  inference  that  the  bark  had  been  previously 
used  for  the  manufacture  of  cordage,  on  account  of  the  supe- 
rior strength  of  the  fibrous  bark  over  that  of  other  materials 
used  for  cordage*. 

"  Under  date  of  June  6, 1844,  I  have  been  favored  with  a  let- 
ter from  the  president  of  one  of  the  most  eminent  literary  insti- 
tutions of  our  country,  who  expresses  his  opinion  of  the  prog- 
ress of  silk  culture  as  follows : 


*  We  have  abundant  testimony  that  the  most  beautiful  fabrics,  comprising 
mantles,  &c.,  as  well  as  cordage,  was  produced  from  the  bark  of  trees,  as  early 
as  the  year  412  B.  C.  So  that  Mr.  Stebbins's  "  historical  fact "  is  anticipated  by 
2012  years  !    (See  Chapters  XII.  and  XIII.  of  this  Part.) 


CHINESE  MODE   OF  REARING   SILK-WORMS,   ETC.  135 

i  I  am  gratified  to  find  a  renewed  and  more  general  interest 
excited  at  the  present  time.  If  this  awaking  up  to  a  scien- 
tific and  practical  consideration  of  the  subject  is  not  soon  crown- 
ed with  signal  success,  I  am  satisfied  it  will  not  be  for  want  of 
enterprize  or  skill  in  our  countrymen,  but  merely  from  the  high 
priee  of  labor,  compared  with  the  scanty  wages  given  in  other 
silk-growing  countries.  Even  this  consideration  (though  it 
may  retard  for  a  while  the  complete  success  of  this  department 
of  productive  industry),  will  not  prevent  its  ultimate  triumph.' 

"  The  above  is  the  opinion  of  one  of  the  most  scientific  men 
of  the  age,  who,  in  early  life,  was  himself  a  silk  grower.  His 
opinion  accords  with  that  of  many  others  of  high  consideration 
in  the  United  States. 

"  While  viewing  the  flourishing  condition  of  one  of  my  mul- 
berry patches,  you  asked  with  what  it  had  been  manured  ?  and 
received  for  answer,  ashes,  and  the  deciduous  foliage.  The 
foliage,  you  thought,  could  be  gathered  for  making  paper,  and 
answered,  that  there  would  be  sufficient  defective  foliage  left  to 
manure  the  land ;  the  foliage  is  richer  than  any  stable  manure, 
and  stable  manure  should  never  be  applied  to  the  mulberry.  I 
have  not  had  occasion  the  last  five  or  six  years  to  use  even 
ashes  as  a  manure,  but  keep  the  land  in  good  tilth  by  frequent 
hoeing.  If  you  found  these  mulberries  more  flourishing  than 
others  you  had  seen,  it  may  be  attributed,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  frequent  hoeing,  and  dressing  with  the  decayed  mulberry 
foliage. 

"  The  soil  is  a  light  sandy  loam ;  and,  previous  to  its  being 
stocked  with  mulberry,  would  not  yield  the  value  of  $10  in  any 
crop ;  and  now,  my  feeder  says,  if  his  worms  do  well,  he  hopes 
to  get  $800  for  the  crop !  A  part  of  this  lot  being  stocked  with 
alpine,  broosa,  and  Asiatic  mulberry,  of  6  to  10  feet  in  height, 
in  rows  3  feet  apart ;  and  having  grown  so  vigorously  as  to 
shade  each  other,  and  liable  to  have  spotted  leaves.  I  have,  in 
order  to  avoid  this,  and  procure  more,  larger,  and  better  foliage, 
cut  away  or  headed  down  every  other  row,  within  three  or  four 
inches  of  the  ground  ;  and  from  the  stumps  have  sprung  up  a 
multitude  of  thrifty  sprouts,  now  fit  for  use,  and  the  leaves  three 
times  larger  than  those  on  the  standard  trees,  are  so  fresh  and 


136         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

tender,  that  in  some  measure  it  is  hoped,  they  may  answer  the 
purpose  of  seedling  foliage,  so  highly  recommended  by  M.  Fras- 
sinet,  who  has  the  following  encomium  on  seedling  foliage : 
'  that  100  pounds  of  such  foliage  is  worth  near  200  pounds  of 
old  leaves  to  make  the  same  quantity  of  cocoons ;  or  in  fact, 
equivalent  in  value  to  nearly  double  the  stock  of  other  foliage.' 
I  have  caused  considerable  bark  to  be  stripped  from  the  Asiatic 
trees  cut  away  for  manufacturing  purposes  ;  and  M.  Rouviere, 
of  Lyons,  has  proved  that  the  bark  of  young  shoots,  submitted 
to  the  same  process  as  hemp,  yields  abundant  silk-fibre  to  make 
beautiful  tissues  (noticed  at  the  close  of  Chapter  XL).  I  should 
advise  silk  growers  to  preserve  the  shoots,  have  them  barked 
in  the  best  way,  and  the  silky  fibre  rotted,  carded,  spun,  and 
wove.  M.  Rouviere  asserts  that  it  will  be  not  only  fine  and 
strong,  but  take  the  most  beautiful  colors.  Of  the  bark,  ropes 
and  nets  are  made  in  the  Morea,  and  may  be  applied  to  great 
advantage  in  the  manufacture  of  paper,  together  with  the 
foliage. 

"  The  Canton  and  Asiatic  seed  sown  this  year  are  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition  for  plantation  use,  exclusive  of  several  mulber- 
ry plantations  which  will  be  for  rent,  or  growing  silk  on  shares, 
next  spring.  Up  to  the  first  of  July,  worms  have  been  uncom- 
monly healthy — the  probable  effect  of  more  open  ventilation 
than  in  former  years. 

"  Mr.  Dabney,  consul  at  Fayal,  (now  in  Boston)  has  two  mil- 
lions of  worms  at  present  on  feed.  S.  Whitmarsh,  at  Jamaica, 
has  360  of  what  he  calls  creolized  native  eggs,  in  constant 
feed,  which  go  through  the  whole  course  to  the  cocoon  in  24 
days.  The  eggs  hatch  in  10  days  after  being  laid.  He  has 
received  the  silk  report,  and  made  such  improvement  as  to 
save,  in  all,  nine-tenths  of  the  usual  labor.  The  silk  cause  at 
Jamaica  occasions  great  interest  in  England  for  its  prosperity 
and  success." 

D.  Stebbins. 

Northampton,  Mass.,  July^  1844. 

We  will  now  conclude  this  Chapter  with  Dr.  Bowring's  ad- 
mirable illustration,  of  the  mutual  dependence  of  the  arts  upon 
each  other : — 


CHINESE   MODE  OF  REARING   SILK-WORMS,   ETC.  137 

"  Let  us  fancy  that  some  thousand  years  ago,  a  mortal,  wandering  through  an 
oriental  wood,  saw  a  worm  falling  from  a  fruit-bearing  tree — that  he  found  this 
little  creature  had  reached  the  end  of  one  of  its  stages  of  existence,  and  was  labo- 
riously engaged  in  shrouding  itself  in  an  unknown  substance,  like  a  fine  thread  of 
gold,  out  of  which  it  constructed  its  tomb  ;  that,  attracted  by  the  circumstance, 
he  found  this  shroud  to  consist  of  a  thread  hundreds  of  yards  long,  which  a  very 
little  attention  enabled  him  to  detach  ;  he  found  he  could  strengthen  the  threads 
by  uniting  them  together,  and  they  could  be  applied  to  various  purposes  of  useful- 
ness ;  he  thought  of  winding  off  the  thread  ;  the  reel  lends  him  the  first  assistance, 
but  he  could  not  make  the  reel  without  the  co-operation  of  a  knife,  or  some  such 
instrument  with  a  sharp  edge.  Thus  the  aid  of  art — of  the  produce  of  art — is 
already  called  in.  With  this  rude  instrument  he  makes  a  machine  which  enables 
him  to  reel  off  the  thread  coffin  of  the  curious  animal.  In  process  of  time,  he 
finds  that  this  fine  filament  can  be  applied  to  the  making  of  garments — garments 
alike  useful  and  ornamental.  Now  trace  the  progress  of  things  by  which,  from 
the  narrow  sphere  of  his  observation  and  experiment,  his  success  spreads  through 
the  districts  he  inhabits,  and  from  them  to  other  lands,  and  becomes  an  object  of 
importance  to  communicate  with  the  whole  family  of  man.  By  and  by  the  co- 
coon, or  its  produce,  finds  its  way  to  foreign  countries,  probably  more  enlightened 
than  his  own,  again  to  be  operated  on  by  a  higher  intelligence  and  more  practised 
skill.  This  associates  the  thread  of  the  silk-worm  with  a  ship,  with  ship-building,, 
and  all  its  marvellous  combinations. — Some  wandering  merchant  probably  con- 
veyed the  raw  material  to  Persia  ;  some  adventurous  mariner  to  Greece  or  Italy  3 
or  other  regions  where  it  gave  a  new  impulse  to  science  and  to  thought.  But 
consider  for  a  moment,  before  the  ship  was  launched  upon  the  water,  how  many 
elements  were  necessary  for  its  production  ;  think  of  how  multitudinous  and  va- 
rious the  materials  which  that  ship  required  for  its  construction,  before  the  prod- 
ucts of  that  remote  country  are  brought  to  their  ultimate  markets  for  manufac- 
ture. I  refer  to  this  particular  topic,  because  it  is  associated  with  the  prosperity 
of  the  districts  in  which  we  are,  and  I  wished  to  carry  back  your  thoughts  to  the 
germ  whence  that  prosperity  sprung.'3 — Bowring's  Lecture  at  the  Poplar  Insti- 
tution. 

18 


CHAPTER  IX, 

THE  SPIDER. 


ATTEMPTS  TO  PROCURE  SILKEN  FILAMENTS  FROM  SPIDERS. 

Structures  of  spiders — Spiders  not  properly  insects,  and  why — Apparatus  for  spin- 
ning— Extraordinary  number  of  spinnerules — Great  number  of  filaments  com- 
posing one  thread — Reaumur  and  Leeuwenhoeck's  laughable  estimates — At- 
tachment of  the  thread  against  a  wall  or  stick — Shooting  of  the  lines  of  spiders 
— 1.  Opinions  of  Redi,  Swammerdam,  and  Kirby — 2.  Lister,  Kirby,  and  White 
— 3.  La  Pluche  and  Bingley — 4.  D'Isjonval,  Murray,  and  Bowman — 5.  Ex- 
periments of  Mr.  Blackwall — His  account  of  the  ascent  of  gossamer — 6.  Ex- 
periments by  Rennie — Thread  supposed  to  go  off  double — Subsequent  experi- 
ments— Nests,  Webs,  and  Nets  of  Spiders — Elastic  satin  nest  of  a  spider — Eve- 
lyn's account  of  hunting  spiders — Labyrinthic  spider's  nest — Erroneous  account 
of  the  House  Spider — Geometric  Spiders — attempts  to  procure  silken  filaments 
from  Spiders'  bags — Experiments  of  M.  Bon — Silken  material — Manner  of  its 
preparations — M.  Bon's  enthusiasm — His  spider  establishment — Spider-silk  not 
poisonous — Its  usefulness  in  healing  wounds — Investigation  of  M.  Bon's  estab- 
lishment by  M.  Reaumur — His  objections — Swift's  satire  against  speculators 
and  projectors — Ewbank's  interesting  observations  on  the  ingenuity  of  spiders — 
Mason-spiders — Ingenious  door  with  a  hinge — Nest  from  the  West  Indies  with 
spring  hinge — Raft -building  Spider — Diving  Water-Spider — Rev.  Mr.  Kirby's 
beautiful  description  of  it — Observations  of  M.  Clerck — Cleanliness  of  Spiders — 
Structure  of  their  claws — Fanciful  account  of  them  patting  their  webs — Pro- 
ceedings of  a  spider  in  a  steamboat — Addison — His  suggestions  on  the  compila- 
tion of  a  "  History  of  Insects." 

Of  spiders  there  are  many  species ;  most  of  them  extend 
their  labors  no  further  than  merely  to  make  a  web  to  ensnare 
and  detain  their  food.  But  others  are  known  to  go  beyond 
this,  and  spin  a  bag  in  the  form  of  a  cocoon,  for  the  protection 
of  their  eggs,  nearly  similar  to  that  of  the  silk-worm.* 

Modern  naturalists  do  not  rank  spiders  among  insects,  be- 
cause they  have  no  antennae,  and  no  division  between  the  head 

*  Don  Luis  Nee  observed  on  certain  trees  growing  in  Chilpancingo,  Tixtala  in 
South  America,  ovate  nests  of  caterpillarsfeight  inches  long,  which  the  inhabi 
tants  manufacture  into  stockings  and  handkerchiefs. — Annals  of  Botany,  2d,  p 
104. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  SPIDER. 


139 


and  shoulders.  They  breathe  by  leaf-shaped  gills,  situated  un- 
der the  belly,  instead  of  spiracles  in  the  sides ;  and  have  a  heart 
connected  with  these.  But  as  spiders  are  popularly  considered 
insects,  it  will  sufficiently  suit  our  purpose  to  introduce  them 
here  as  such. 

Spiders  are  usually  classed  according  to  their  difference  of 
color,  whether  black,  brown,  yellow,  &c,  or  sometimes  by  the 
number  and  arrangement  of  their  eyes  :  of  these  organs  some 
possess  no  fewer  than  ten,  others  eight,  and  others  again  six*. 

Some  species  of  spiders  are  known  to  possess  the  power  of  not 
merely  forming  a  web,  but  also  of  spinning,  for  the  protection 
of  their  eggs,  a  bag  somewhat  similar  in  form  and  substance 
to  the  cocoon  of  the  silk-worm.  The  apparatus  by  which  they 
construct  their  ingenious  fabrics,  is  much  more  complicated 
than  that  which  is  common  to  the  various  species  of  caterpil- 
lars. Caterpillars  have  only  two  reservoirs  for  the  materials 
of  their  silk  ;  but  the  spider  spins  minute  fibres  from  fine  papil- 
lae, or  small  nipples  placed  in  the  hinder  part  of  its  body.  These 
papillae  serve  the  office  of  so  many  wire-drawing  machines,  from 
which  the  silken  threadlets  are  ejected.  Spiders,  according  to 
the  dissections  of  M.  Treviranus,  have  four  principal  vessels, 
two  larger  and  two  smaller,  with  a  number  of  minute  ones  at 
their  base.  Several  small  tubes  branch  towards  the  reservoirs, 
for  carrying  to  them,  no  doubt,  a  supply  of  the  secreted  mate- 
rial. Swammerdam  describes  them  as  twisted  into  many  coils 
of  an  agate  colort.  We  do  not  find  them  coiled,  but  nearly 
straight,  and  of  a  deep  yellow  color.  From  these,  when  bro- 
ken, threads  can  be  drawn  out  like  those  spun  by  the  spider, 
though  we  cannot  draw  them  so  fine  by  many  degrees. 

From  these  little  flasks  or  bags  of  gum,  situated  near  the 
apex  of  the  abdomen,  and  not  at  the  mouth  as  in  caterpillars, 
a  tube  originates,  and  terminates  in  the  external  spinnerets, 
which  may  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye  in  the  form  of  five  little 
teats  surrounded  by  a  small  circle,  as  represented  in  Fig.  8. 


*  Porter's  "  Treatise  on  the  Silk  Manufacture,"  p.  168. 
t  Hill's  Swammerdam,  part  i.  p.  23. 


140         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

Plate  IV. ;  this  figure  shows  the  garden  spider  (Epeira  dia- 
demo)  suspended  by  a  thread  proceeding  from  its  spinneret. 

We  have  seen  that  the  thread  of  the  silk-worm  is  composed 
of  two  filaments  united,  but  the  spider's  thread  would  appear, 
from  the  first  view  of  its  five  spinnerets,  to  be  quintuple,  and  in 
some  species  which  have  six  teats,  so  many  times  more.  It  is  not 
safe,  however,  in  our  interpretations  of  nature  to  proceed  upon 
conjecture,  however  plausible,  nor  to  take  anything  for  granted 
which  we  have  not  actually  seen ;  since  our  inferences  in  such 
cases  are  almost  certain  to  be  erroneous.  If  Aristotle,  for  exam- 
ple, had  ever  looked  narrowly  at  a  spider  when  spinning,  he 
could  not  have  fancied,  as  he  does,  that  the  materials  which  it 
uses  are  nothing  but  wool  stripped  from  its  body.  On  looking, 
then,  with  a  strong  magnifying  glass,  at  the  teat-shaped  spin- 
nerets of  a  spider,  we  perceive  them  studded  with  regular  rows 
of  minute  bristle-like  points,  about  a  thousand  to  each  teat, 
making  in  all  from  five  to  six  thousand.  These  are  minute 
tubes  which  we  may  appropriately  term  spinnerules,  as  each 
is  connected  with  the  internal  reservoirs,  and  emits  a  thread 
of  inconceivable  fineness.  Fig.  9.  represents  this  wonderful 
apparatus  as  it  appears  in  the  microscope. 

We  do  not  recollect  that  naturalists  have  ventured  to  assign 
any  cause  for  this  very  remarkable  multiplicity  of  the  spinner- 
ules  of  spiders,  so  different  from  the  simple  spinneret  of  cater- 
pillars. To  us  it  appears  an  admirable  provision  for  their  mode 
of  life.  Caterpillars  neither  require  such  strong  materials,  nor 
that  their  thread  should  dry  as  quickly.  It  is  well  known  in 
our  manufactures,  particularly  in  rope-spinning,  that  in  cords 
of  equal  thickness,  those  which  are  composed  of  many  smaller 
ones  united  are  stronger  than  those  spun  at  once.  In  the  in- 
stance of  the  spider's  thread,  this  principle  must  hold  still  more 
strikingly,  inasmuch  as  it  is  composed  of  fluid  materials  that 
require  to  be  dried  rapidly,  and  this  drying  must  be  greatly 
facilitated  by  exposing  so  many  to  the  air  separately  before 
their  union,  which  is  effected  at  about  the  tenth  of  an  inch 
from  the  spinnerets.  In  Fig.  10.  Plate  IV.  each  of  the  threads 
shown  is  represented  to  contain  one  hundred  minute  threads, 
the  whole  forming  only  one  of  the  spider's  common  threads. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE  SPIDER. 


141 


In  the  figure  the  threads  are,  of  course,  greatly  magnified,  so 
that,  for  the  small  space  represented,  the  lines  are  shown  as 
parallel.  The  threadlets,  or  filaments  as  they  come  from  the 
papillae,  are  too  fine  to  be  counted  with  any  degree  of  accuracy, 
but  it  is  evident  that  very  many  are  sent  forth  from  each  of  the 
larger  papillae.  This  fact  tends  to  explain  the  power  possessed 
by  the  spider  of  producing  threads  having  different  degrees  of 
tenuity.  By  applying  more  or  less  of  these  papillae  against  the 
place  whence  it  begins  its  web,  the  spider  joins  into  one  thread 
the  almost  imperceptible  individual  filaments  which  it  draws 
from  its  body  ;  the  size  of  this  thread  being  dependent  on  the 
number  of  nipples  employed,  and  regulated  by  that  instinct 
which  teaches  the  creature  to  make  choice  of  the  degree  of 
exility  most  appropriate  to  the  work  wherein  it  is  about  to 
engage. 

Reaumur  relates  that  he  has  often  counted  as  many  as  seventy 
or  eighty  fibres  through  a  microscope,  and  perceived  that  there 
were  yet  infinitely  more  than  he  could  reckon ;  so  that  he  be- 
lieved himself  to  be  far  within  the  limit  of  truth  in  computing 
that  the  tip  of  each  of  the  five  papillae  furnished  1000  separate 
fibres  :  thus  supposing  that  one  slender  filament  of  a  spider's 
web  is  made  up  of  5000  fibres  ! 

Leeuwenhoeck,  in  one  of  his  extraordinary  microscopical  ob- 
servations on  a  young  spider,  not  bigger  than  a  grain  of  sand, 
upon  enumerating  the  threadlets  in  one  of  its  threads,  calcula- 
ted that  it  would  require  four  millions  of  them  to  be  as  thick 
as  a  hair  of  his  head ! 

Another  important  advantage  derived  by  the  spider  from  the 
multiplicity  of  its  threadlets  is,  that  the  thread  affords  a  much 
more  secure  attachment  to  a  wall,  a  branch  of  a  tree,  or  any 
other  object,  than  if  it  were  simple  ;  for,  upon  pressing  the 
spinneret  against  the  object,  as  spiders  always  do  when  they  fix 
a  thread,  the  spinnerules  are  extended  over  an  area  of  some 
diameter,  from  every  hair's  breadth  of  which  a  strand,  as  rope- 
makers  term  it,  is  extended  to  compound  the  main  cord.  Fig. 
11.  Plate  IV.  exhibits,  magnified,  this  ingenious  contrivance. 
Those  who  may  be  curious  to  examine  it,  will  see  it  best  when 


142         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

the  line  is  attached  to  any  black  object,  for  the  threads,  being 
whitish,  are,  in  otherwise,  not  so  easily  perceived. 

Shooting  of  the  lines. — It  has  long  been  considered  a 
curious  though  difficult  investigation,  to  determine  in  what 
manner  spiders,  seeing  that  they  are  destitute  of  wings,  trans- 
port themselves  from  tree  to  tree,  across  brooks,  and  frequently 
through  the  air  itself,  without  any  apparant  starting  point.  On 
looking  into  the  authors  who  have  treated  upon  this  subject, 
it  is  surprising  how  little  there  is  to  be  met  with  that  is  new, 
even  in  the  most  recent.  Their  conclusions,  or  rather  their 
conjectural  opinions,  are,  however,  worthy  of  notice  ;  for  by 
unlearning  error,  we  the  more  firmly  establish  truth. 

1.  One  of  the  earliest  notions  upon  this  subject  is  that  of 
Blancanus,  the  commentator  on  Aristotle,  which  is  partly 
adopted  by  Redi,  by  Henricus  Regius  of  Utrecht,  by  Swammer- 
dam*,  by  Lehmann,  as  well  as  by  Kirby  and  Spencet.  "  The 
spider's  thread,"  says  Swammerdam,  "  is  generally  made  up  of 
two  or  more  parts,  and  after  descending  by  such  a  thread,  it  as- 
cends by  one  only,  and  is  thus  enabled  to  waft  itself  from  one 
height  or  tree  to  another,  even  across  running  waters  ;  the 
thread  it  leaves  loose  behind  it  being  driven  about  by  the  wind, 
and  so  fixed  to  some  other  body."  "  I  placed,"  says  Kirby, 
"  the  large  garden  spider  (Epeira  diadema)  upon  a  stick  about 

a  foot  long,  set  upright  in  a  vessel  containing  water  

It  let  itself  drop,  not  by  a  single  thread,  but  by  tivo,  each  distant 
from  the  other  about  the  twelfth  of  an  inch,  guided,  as  usual, 
by  one  of  its  hind  feet,  and  that  one  apparently  smaller  than 
the  other.  When  it  had  suffered  itself  to  descend  nearly  to  the 
surface  of  the  water,  it  stopped  short,  and  by  some  means, 
wThich  I  could  not  distinctly  see,  broke  off,  close  to  the  spinners, 
the  smallest  thread,  which  still  adhering  by  the  other  end  to 
the  top  of  the  stick,  floated  in  the  air,  and  was  so  light  as  to  be 
carried  about  by  the  slightest  breath.  On  approaching  a  pencil 
to  the  loose  end  of  this  line,  it  did  not  adhere  from  mere  con- 
tact. I,  therefore,  twisted  it  once  or  twice  round  the  pencil,  and 
then  drew  it  tight.    The  spider,  which  had  previously  climbed 


*  Swammerdam,  part  i.  p.  24.  t  Intr.  vol.  i.  p.  415. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  SPIDER. 


143 


to  the  top  of  the  stick,  immediately  pulled  at  it  with  one  of  its 
feet,  and  finding  it  sufficiently  tense,  crept  along  it,  strengthen- 
ing it  as  it  proceeded  by  another  thread,  and  thus  reached  the 
pencil." 

1.  "  We  have  repeatedly  witnessed  this  occurrence,"  says  Mr. 
Rennie,  "  in  the  fields,  and  when  spiders  were  placed  for  experi- 
ment, as  Kirby  has  described ;  but  wTe  very  much  doubt  that 
the  thread  broken  is  ever  intended  as  a  bridge  cable,  or  that  it 
would  have  been  so  used  in  that  instance,  had  it  not  been  arti- 
ficially fixed  and  again  accidentally  found  by  the  spider.  Ac- 
cording to  our  observations,  a  spider  never  for  an  instant,  aban- 
dons, the  thread  which  she  dispatches  in  quest  of  an  attach- 
ment, but  uniformly  keeps  trying  it  with  her  feet,  in  order  to 
ascertain  its  success.  We  are,  therefore,  persuaded,  that  when 
a  thread  is  broken  in  the  manner  above  described,  it  is  because 
it  has  been  spun  too  weak,  and  spiders  may  often  be  seen  break- 
ing such  threads  in  the  process  of  netting  their  webs." 

The  plan,  besides,  as  explained  by  these  distinguished  writers, 
would  more  frequently  prove  abortive  than  successful,  from  the 
cut  thread  not  being  sufficiently  long.  They  admit,  indeed, 
that  spiders'  lines  are  often  found  "  a  yard  or  two  long,  fastened 
to  twigs  of  grass  not  a  foot  in  height  Here,  there- 
fore, some  other  process  must  have  been  used*." 

2.  The  celebrated  English  naturalist,  Dr.  Lister,  whose 
treatise  upon  the  native  spiders  of  that  country,  has  been  the 
basis  of  every  subsequent  work  on  the  subject,  maintains  that 
"  some  spiders  shoot  out  their  threads  in  the  same  manner  that 
porcupines  do  their  quillst ;  that  whereas  the  quills  of  the  lat- 
ter are  entirely  separated  from  their  bodies,  when  thus  shot  out, 
the  threads  of  the  former  remain  fixed  to  their  anus,  as  the 
sun's  rays  to  its  bodyt."  A  French  periodical  writer  goes  a  lit- 
tle farther,  and  says,  that  spiders  have  the  power  of  shooting 
out  threads,  and  directing  them  at  pleasure  towards  a  deter- 
mined jyoint,  judging  of  the  distance  and  position  of  the  ob- 


*  Kirby  and  Spence,  vol.  i.  Intr.  p.  416. 

t  Porcupines  do  not  shoot  out  their  quills,  as  was  once  generally  believed. 
X  Lister,  Hist.  Animalia  Anglice,  4to.  p.  7. 


144        CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE   OF  SILK. 

ject  by  some  sense  of  which  we  are  ignorant*.  Kirby  also 
says,  that  he  once  observed  a  small  garden  spider  (Aranea  re- 
ticulata) "  standing  midway  on  a  long  perpendicular  fixed 
thread,  and  an  appearance  caught"  his  "  eye,  of  what  seemed 
to  be  the  emission  of  threads."  "  I,"  therefore,  he  adds,  "  moved 
my  arm  in  the  direction  in  which  they  apparently  proceeded, 
and,  as  I  had  suspected,  a  floating  thread  attached  itself  to  my 
coat,  along  which  the  spider  crept.  As  this  was  connected  with 
the  spinners  of  the  spider,  it  could  not  have  been  formed"  by 
breaking  a  "  secondary  threadf."  Again,  in  speaking  of  the 
gossamer-spider,  he  says,  "  it  first  extends  its  thigh,  shank,  and 
foot,  into  a  right  line,  and  then,  elevating  its  abdomen  till  it  be- 
comes vertical,  shoots  its  thread  into  the  air,  and  flies  off  from 
its  stationl:." 

Another  distinguished  naturalist,  Mr.  White  of  Selborne,  in 
speaking  of  the  gossamer-spider,  says,  "Every  day  in  fine 
weather  in  autumn  do  I  see  these  spiders  shooting  out  their 
webs,  and  mounting  aloft :  they  will  go  off  from  the  finger,  if 
you  take  them  into  your  hand.  Last  summer,  one  alighted  on 
my  book  as  I  was  reading  in  the  parlor  ;  ran  to  the  top  of  the 
page,  and  shooting  out  a  web,  took  its  departure  from  thence. 
But  what  I  most  wondered  at,  was,  that  it  went  off  with  consid- 
erable velocity  in  a  place  where  no  air  was  stirring ;  and  I  am 
sure  I  did  not  assist  it  with  my  breath §." 

"  Having  so  often  witnessed,"  says  Mr.  Rennie,  "  the  thread 
set  afloat  in  the  air  by  spiders,  we.  can  readily  conceive  the  way 
in  which  those  eminent  naturalists  were  led  to  suppose  it  to  be 
ejected  by  some  animal  force  acting  like  a  syringe  ;  but  as  the 
statement  can  be  completely  disproved  by  experiment,  we  shall 
only  at  present  ask,  in  the  words  of  Swammerdam — 'how  can 
it  be  possible  that  a  thread  so  fine  and  slender  should  be  shot 
out  with  force  enough  to  divide  and  pass  through  the  air  ? — is 
it  not  rather  probable  that  the  air  would  stop  its  progress,  and 
so  entangle  it  and  fit  it  to  perplex  the  spider's  operations ||  V  " 


*  Phil.  Mag.  ii.  p.  275. 

t  Vol.  i.  Intr.  p.  417.  t  Ibid.  ii.  p.  339. 

§  Nat.  Hist,  of  Selborne,  vol.  i.  p.  327.     |j  Book  of  Nature,  part  i.  p.  25. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  SPIDER. 


145 


The  opinion,  indeed,  is  equally  improbable  with  another  sug- 
gested by  Dr.  Lister,  that  the  spider  can  retract  her  thread 
within  the  abdomen,  after  it  has  been  emitted*.  De  Geert  very 
justly  joins  Swammerdam  in  rejecting  both  of  these  fancies, 
which,  in  our  own  earlier  observations  upon  spiders,  certainly 
struck  us  as  plausible  and  true.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  indeed, 
that  the  animal  has  a  voluntary  power  of  permitting  the  ma- 
terial to  escape^  or  stopping  it  at  pleasure,  but  this  is  not  pro- 
jectile. 

3.  "  There  are  many  people,"  says  the  Abbe  de  la  Pluche, 
"  who  believe  that  the  spider  flies  when  they  see  her  pass  from 
branch  to  branch,  and  even  from  one  high  tree  to  another ;  but 
she  transports  herself  in  this  manner ;  and  places  herself  upon 
the  end  of  a  branch,  or  some  projecting  body,  and  there  fastens 
her  thread ;  after  which,  with  her  two  hind  feet,  she  squeezes 
her  dugs  (spinnerets),  and  presses  out  one  or  more  threads  of 
two  or  three  ells  in  length,  which  she  leaves  to  float  in  the  air 
till  it  be  fixed  to  some  particular  placet."  Without  pretending 
to  have  observed  this,  Swammerdam  says,  "  I  can  easily  com- 
prehend how  spiders,  without  giving  themselves  any  motion, 
may,  by  only  compressing  their  spinnerets,  force  out  a  thread, 
which  being  driven  by  the  wind,  may  serve  to  waft  them  from 
place  to  placei"  Others,  proceeding  upon  a  similar  notion, 
give  a  rather  different  account  of  the  matter.  "  The  spicier," 
says  Bingley,  "  fixes  one  end  of  a  thread  to  the  place  where 
she  stands,  and  then  with  her  hind  paws  draws  out  several 
other  threads  from  the  nipples,  which,  being  lengthened  out 
and  driven  by  the  wind  to  some  neighboring  tree  or  other  ob- 
ject, are  by  their  natural  clamminess  fixed  to  itll." 

Observation  gives  some  plausibility  to  the  latter  opinion,  as 
the  spider  always  actively  uses  her  legs,  though  not  to  draw 
out  the  thread,  but  ascertain  whether  it  has  caught  upon  any 
object.    The  notion  of  her  pressing  the  spinneret  with  her  feet 


*  Hist.  Anim.  Anglse,  4to.  t  Memoires,  vol.  vii.  p.  189 

X  Spectacle  de  la  Nature,  vol.  i.  §  Book  of  Nature,  pt.  i.  p.  25. 

[J  Animal  Biography,  vol.  iii.  p.  475,  3d  edition. 

19 


146         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE   OF  SILK. 

must  be  a  mere  fancy ;  at  least  it  is  not  countenanced  by  any- 
thing which  we  have  observed. 

4.  An  opinion  much  more  recondite  is  mentioned,  if  it  was 
not  started,  by  M.  D'Isjonval,  that  the  floating  of  the  spider's 
thread  is  electrical.  "  Frogs,  cats,  and  other  animals,"  he  says, 
"  are  affected  by  natural  electricity,  and  feel  the  change  of  wea- 
ther ;  but  no  other  animal  more  than  myself  and  spiders."  In 
wet  and  windy  weather  he  accordingly  found  that  they  spun 
very  short  lines,  "  but  when  a  spider  spins  a  long  thread, 
there  is  a  certainty  of  fine  weather  for  at  least  ten  or  twelve 
days  afterwards* A  periodical  writer,  who  signs  himself 
Carolanf ,  fancies  that  in  darting  out  her  thread  the  spider  emits 
a  stream  of  air,  or  some  subtle  electric  fluid,  by  which  she 
guides  it  as  if  by  magic. 

A  living  writer  (Mr.  John  Murray)  whose  learning  and  skill 
in  conducting  experiments  give  no  little  weight  to  his  opinions, 
has  carried  these  views  considerably  farther.  "  The  aeronautic 
spider,"  he  says,  "  can  propel  its  thread  both  horizontally  and 
vertically,  and  at  all  relative  angles,  in  motionless  air  and  in 
an  atmosphere  agitated  by  winds  ;  nay  more,  the  aerial  trav- 
eller can  even  dart  its  thread,  to  use  a  nautical  phrase,  in  the 
i  wind's  eye.'   My  opinion  and  observations  are  based  on  many 

hundred  experiments  The  entire  phenomena  are 

electrical.  When  a  thread  is  propelled  in  a  vertical  plane,  it 
remains  perpendicular  to  the  horizontal  plane  always  upright, 
and  when  others  are  projected  at  angles  more  or  less  inclined, 
their  direction  is  invariably  preserved ;  the  threads  never  inter- 
mingle, and  when  a  pencil  of  threads  is  propelled,  it  ever  pre- 
sents the  appearance  of  a  divergent  brush.  These  are  elec- 
trical phenomena,  and  cannot  be  explained  but  on  electrical 
principles." 

"  In  clear,  fine  weather,  the  air  is  invariably  positive  ;  and  it 
is  precisely  in  such  weather  that  the  aeronautic  spider  makes 
its  ascent  most  easily  and  rapidly,  whether  it  be  in  summer  or 
winter."    "  When  the  air  is  weakly  positive,  the  ascent  of  the 


*  Brez,  Flore  des  Insectophiles.  Notes,  Supp.  p.  134. 
t  Thomson's  Ann.  of  Philosophy,  vol.  iii.  p.  306. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE   SPIDER.  147 

spider  will  be  difficult,  and  its  altitude  extremely  limited,  and 
the  threads  propelled  will  be  but  little  elevated  above  the  hori- 
zontal plane.  When  negative  electricity  prevails,  as  in  cloudy 
weather,  or  on  the  approach  of  rain,  and  the  index  of  De 
Saussure's  hygrometer  rapidly  advancing  towards  humidity,  the 
spider  is  unable  to  ascend*." 

Mr.  Murray  tells  us,  that  "  when  a  stick  of  excited  sealing- 
wax  is  brought  near  the  thread  of  suspension,  it  is  evidently 
repelled  ;  consequently,  the  electricity  of  the  thread  is  of  a 
negative  character,"  while  "  an  excited  glass  tube  brought  near, 
seemed  to  attract  the  thread,  and  with  it  the  aeronautic 
spidert"  His  friend,  Mr.  Bowman,  further  describes  the  aerial 
spider  as  "  shooting  out  four  or  five,  often  six  or  eight,  extreme- 
ly fine  webs  several  yards  long,  which  waved  in  the  breeze,  di- 
verging from  each  other  like  a  pencil  of  rays."  One  of  them 
"  had  two  distinct  and  widely  diverging  fasciculi  of  webs,"  and 
"  a  line  uniting  them  would  have  been  at  right  angles  to  the 
direction  of  the  breeze!." 

"  Such  is  the  chief  evidence  in  support  of  the  electrical  the- 
ory," says  Mr.  Rennie ;  "  but  though  we  have  tried  these  ex- 
periments, we  have  not  succeeded  in  verifying  any  one  of  them. 
The  following  statements  of  Mr.  Blackwall  come  nearer  our 
own  observations. 

5.  <  Having  procured  a  small  branched  twig,'  says  Mr. 
Blackwall,  <  I  fixed  it  upright  in  an  earthen  vessel  containing 
water,  its  base  being  immersed  in  the  liquid,  and  upon  it  I 
placed  several  of  the  spiders  which  produce  gossamer.  When- 
ever the  insects  thus  circumstanced  were  exposed  to  a  current 
of  air,  either  naturally  or  artificially  produced,  they  directly 
turned  the  thorax  towards  the  quarter  whence  it  came,  even 
when  it  was  so  slight  as  scarcely  to  be  perceptible,  and  eleva- 
ting the  abdomeii;  they  emitted  from  their  spinners  a  small  por- 
tion of  glutinous  matter,  which  was  instantly  carried  out  in  a 
line,  consisting  of  four  finer  ones,  with  a  velocity  equal,  or  nearly 


*  Loudon's  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 
t  Experim.  Researches  in  Nat.  Hist.,  p.  136 
t  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  324. 


148         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE   OF  SILK. 

so,  to  that  with  which  the  air  moved,  as  was  apparent  from 
observations  made  on  the  motion  of  detached  lines  similarly 
exposed.  The  spiders,  in  the  next  place,  carefully  ascertained 
whether  their  lines  had  become  firmly  attached  to  any  object 
or  not,  by  pulling  at  them  with  the  front  pair  of  legs ;  and  if 
the  result  was  satisfactory,  after  tightening  them  sufficiently, 
they  made  them  pass  to  the  twig ;  then  discharging  from  their 
spinners,  which  they  applied  to  the  spot  where  they  stood,  a 
little  more  of  their  liquid  gum,  and  committing  themselves  to 
these  bridges  of  their  own  constructing,  they  passed  over  them 
in  safety,  drawing  a  second  line  after  them,  as  a  security  in  case 
the  first  gave  way,  and  so  effected  their  escape. 

<  Such  was  invariably  the  result  when  spiders  were  placed 
where  the  air  was  liable  to  be  sensibly  agitated :  I  resolved,  there- 
fore, to  put  a  bell-glass  over  them  ;  and  in  this  situation  they  re- 
mained seventeen  days,  evidently  unable  to  produce  a  single 
line  by  which  they  could  quit  the  branch  they  occupied,  with- 
out encountering  the  water  at  its  base  ;  though,  on  the  removal 
of  the  glass,  they  regained  their  liberty  with  as  much  celerity 
as  in  the  instances  already  recorded. 

<  This  experiment,  which,  from  want  of  due  precaution,  has 
misled  so  many  distinguished  naturalists,  I  have  tried  with  sev- 
eral geometric  spiders,  and  always  with  the  same  success*.'  " 

Mr.  Blackwall,  from  subsequent  experiments,  says  he  is 
"  confident  in  affirming,  that  in  motionless  air,  spiders  have  not 
the  power  of  darting  their  threads  even  through  the  space  of 
half  an  inchf"  The  following  details  are  given  in  confirma- 
tion of  this  opinion.  Mr.  Blackwall  observed,  the  1st  of  Oct., 
1826,  a  little  before  noon,  with  the  sun  shining  brightly,  no 
wind  stirring,  and  the  thermometer  in  the  shade  ranging  from 
55°.  5  to  64°,  a  profusion  of  shining  lines  crossing  each  other  at 
every  angle,  forming  a  confused  net-work,  covering  the  fields 
and  hedges,  and  thickly  coating  his  feet  and  ankles,  as  he 
walked  across  a  pasture.  He  was  more  struck  with  the  pheno- 
menon because  on  the  previous  day  a  strong  gale  of  wind  had 
blown  from  the  south,  and  as  gossamer  is  only  seen  in  calm 


*  Linn.  Trans.,  vol.  xv.  p.  456. 


t  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  ii.  p.  397. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE  SPIDER. 


149 


weather,  it  must  have  been  all  produced  within  a  very  short 
time. 

"  What  more  particularly  arrested  my  attention,"  says  Mr. 
Blackwall,  "  ioas  the  ascent  of  an  amazing  quantity  of  ivebs 
of  an  irregular,  complicated  structure,  resembling  ravelled 
silk  of  the  finest  quality,  and  clearest  white  ;  they  roere  of 
various  shapes  and  dimensions,  some  of  the  largest  measur- 
ing upwards  of  a  yard  in  length,  and  several  inches  in 
breadth  in  the  widest  part ;  while  others  were  almost  as 
broad,  as  long,  presenting  an  area  of  a  few  square  inches 
only. 

u  These  webs,  it  was  quickly  perceived,  were  not  formed  in 
the  air,  as  is  generally  believed,  but  at  the  earth's  surface. 
The  lines  of  which  they  were  composed,  being  brought  into 
contact  by  the  mechanical  action  of  gentle  airs,  adhered  to- 
gether, till,  by  continual  additions,  they  were  accumulated  into 
flakes  or  masses  of  considerable  magnitude,  on  which  the  as- 
cending current,  occasioned  by  the  rarefaction  of  the  air  con- 
tiguous to  the  heated  ground,  acted  with  so  much  force  as  to 
separate  them  from  the  objects  to  which  they  were  attached, 
raising  them  in  the  atmosphere  to  a  perpendicular  height  of  at 
least  several  hundred  feet.  I  collected  a  number  of  these  webs 
about  mid-day,  as  they  rose  ;  and  again  in  the  afternoon,  when 
the  upward  current  had  ceased,  and  they  were  falling;  but 
scarcely  one  in  twenty  contained  a  spider :  though,  on  minute 
inspection,  I  found  small  winged  insects,  chiefly  aphides,  en- 
tangled in  most  of  them. 

"  From  contemplating  this  unusual  display  of  gossamer,  my 
thoughts  were  naturally  directed  to  the  animals  which  pro- 
duced it,  and  the  countless  myriads  in  which  they  swarmed  al- 
most created  as  much  surprise  as  the  singular  occupation  that 
engrossed  them.  Apparently  actuated  by  the  same  impulse, 
all  were  intent  upon  traversing  the  regions  of  air ;  accordingly 
after  gaining  the  summits  of  various  objects,  as  blades  of 
grass,  stubble,  rails,  gates,  fyc,  by  the  slow  and  laborious 
process  of  climbing,  they  raised  themselves  still  higher  by 
strengthening  their  limbs  ;  and  elevating  the  abdomen,  by 
bringing  it  from  the  usual  horizontal  position  into  one  ah 


150         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

most  perpendicular,  they  emitted  from  their  spinning  cuppa 
ratus  a  small  quantity  of  the  glutinous  secretion  with  which 
they  construct  their  webs.  This  viscous  substance  being 
drawn  out  by  the  ascending  current  of  rarefied  air  into  fine 
lines  several  feet  in  length,  was  carried  upward,  until  the  spi- 
ders, feeling  themselves  acted  upon  with  sufficient  force  in  that 
direction,  quitted  their  hold  of  the  objects  on  which  they  stood, 
and  commenced  their  journey  by  mounting  aloft. 

"  Whenever  the  lines  became  inadequate  to  the  purpose  for 
which  they  were  intended,  by  adhering  to  any  fixed  body,  they 
were  immediately  detached  from  the  spinners  and  so  converted 
into  terrestrial  gossamer,  by  means  of  the  last  pair  of  legs,  and 
the  proceedings  just  described  were  repeated;  which  plainly 
proves  that  these  operations  result  from  a  strong  desire  felt  by 
the  insects  to  effect  an  ascent*."  Mr.  Blackwall  has  recently 
read  a  paper  (still  unpublished)  in  the  Linnaean  Society,  confir- 
matory of  his  opinions. 

6.  "  Without  going  into  the  particulars,"  says  Mr.  Rennie, 
"  of  what  agrees  or  disagrees  in  the  above  experiments  with 
our  own  observations,  we  shall  give  a  brief  account  of  what 
wTe  have  actually  seen  in  our  researches.  So  far  as  we  have 
determined,  then,  all  the  various  species  of  spiders,  how  differ- 
ent soever  the  form  of  their  webs  may  be,  proceed  in  the  circum- 
stance of  shooting  their  lines  precisely  alike ;  but  those  which 
we  have  found  the  most  manageable  in  experimenting,  are  the 
small  gossamer  spider  (Aranea  obtextrix,  Bechstein)?  known 
by  its  shining  blackish-brown  body  and  reddish-brown  semi- 
transparent  legs ;  but  particularly  the  long-bodied  spider  ( Te- 
tragnatha  extensa,  Latr.),  which  varies  in  color  from  green 
to  brownish  or  grey — but  has  always  a  black  line  along  the 
belly,  with  a  silvery  white  or  yellowish  one  on  each  side.  The 
latter  is  chiefly  recommended  by  being  a  very  industrious  and 
persevering  spinner,  while  its  movements  are  easily  seen,  from 
the  long  cylindrical  form  of  its  body  and  the  length  of  its  legs. 

"  We  placed  the  above  two  species  with  five  or  six  others,  in- 
cluding the  garden,  the  domestic,  and  the  labyrinthic  spiders, 


*  Linn.  Trans.,  vol.  xv.  p.  453. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE   SPIDER.  151 

in  empty  wine-glasses,  set  in  tea-saucers  filled  with  water,  to 
prevent  their  escape.  When  they  discovered,  by  repeated  de- 
scents from  the  brims  of  the  glasses,  that  they  were  thus  sur- 
rounded by  a  wet  ditch,  they  all  set  themselves  to  the  task  of 
throwing  their  silken  bridges  across.  For  this  purpose  they 
first  endeavored  to  ascertain  in  what  direction  the  wind  blew, 
or  rather  (as  the  experiment  was  made  in  our  study)  which 
way  any  current  of  air  set, — by  elevating  their  arms  as  we 
have  seen  sailors  do  in  a  dead  calm.  But,  as  it  may  prove 
more  interesting  to  keep  to  one  individual,  we  shall  first  watch 
the  proceedings  of  the  gossamer  spider. 

"  Finding  no  current  of  air  on  any  quarter  of  the  brim  of  the 
glass,  it  seemed  to  give  up  all  hopes  of  constructing  its  bridge 
of  escape,  and  placed  itself  in  the  attitude  of  repose ;  but  no 
sooner  did  we  produce  a  stream  of  air,  by  blowing  gently 
towards  its  position,  than,  fixing  a  thread  to  the  glass,  and 
laying  hold  of  it  with  one  of  its  feet,  by  way  of  security,  it 
placed  its  body  in  a  vertical  position,  with  its  spinnerets  ex- 
tended outwards  ;  and  immediately  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  a  thread  streaming  out  from  them  several  feet  in 
length,  on  which  the  little  aeronaut  sprung  up  into  the  air. 
We  were  convinced,  from  what  we  thus  observed,  that  it  was 
the  'double  or  bend  of  the  thread  which  was  blown  into  the 
air ;  and  we  assigned  as  a  reason  for  her  previously  attaching 
and  drawing  out  a  thread  from  the  glass,  the  wish  to  give  the 
wind  a  point  d'appui — something  upon  which  it  might  have 
a  purchase,  as  a  mechanic  would  say  of  a  lever.  The  bend 
of  the  thread,  then,  on  this  view  of  the  matter,  would  be  car- 
ried out  by  the  wind, — would  form  the  point  of  impulsion, — and, 
of  course,  the  escape  bridge  would  be  an  ordinary  line  doubled." 

Such  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Rennie,  which  is  strongly  corrobo- 
rated by  what  has  been  said  by  M.  Latreille — than  whom  no 
higher  authority  could  be  given.  "  When  the  animal,"  says 
he,  "  desires  to  cross  a  brook,  she  fixes  to  a  tree  or  some  other 
object  one  of  the  ends  of  her  first  threads,  in  order  that  the  wind 
or  a  current  of  air  may  carry  the  other  beyond  the  obstacle*  f 


*  "  L'un  des  bouts  de  ces  premiers  fils,  arm  que  le  vent  ou  un  courant 


152         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

'and  ou&  end  is  always  attached  to  the  spinnerets,  he  must 
mean  that  the  double  of  the  thread  flies  off.  In  his  previous 
publications,  however,  Latreille  had  contented  himself  with 
copying  the  statement  of  Dr.  Lister.  "  In  order  to  ascertain 
the  fact,"  says  Mr.  Rennie,  "  and  put  an  end  to  all  doubts,  we 
watched,  with  great  care  and  minuteness,  the  proceedings  of 
the  long-bodied  spider  above  mentioned,  by  producing  a  stream 
of  air  in  the  same  manner,  as  it  perambulated  the  brim  of  the 
glass.  It  immediately,  as  the  other  had  done,  attached  a  thread 
and  raised  its  body  perpendicularly,  like  a  tumbler  standing  on 
his  hands  with  his  head  downwards  ;  but  we  looked  in  vain  for 
this  thread  bending,  as  we  had  at  first  supposed,  and  going  off 
double.  Instead  of  this  it  remained  tight,  while  another  thread, 
or  what  appeared  to  be  so,  streamed  off  from  the  spinners,  simi- 
lar to  smoke  issuing  through  a  pin-hole,  sometimes  in  a  line, 
and  sometimes  at  a  considerable  angle,  with  the  first,  according 
to  the  current  of  the  air, — the  first  thread,  extended  from  the 
glass  to  the  spinnerets,  remaining  all  the  while  tight  drawn  in 
a  right  line.  It  further  appeared  to  us,  that  the  first  thread 
proceeded  from  the  pair  of  spinnerets  nearest  the  head,  while 
the  floating  thread  came  from  the  outer  pair, — though  it  is 
possible  in  such  minute  objects  we  may  have  been  deceived. 
That  the  first  was  continuous  with  the  second,  without  any 
perceptible  joining,  we  ascertained  in  numerous  instances,  by 
catching  the  floating  line  and  pulling  it  tight,  in  which  case 
the  spider  glides  along  without  attaching  another  line  to  the 
glass  ;  but  if  she  have  to  coil  up  the  floating  line  to  lighten  it, 
as  usually  happens,  she  gathers  it  into  a  packet  and  glues  the 
two  ends  tight  together.  Her  body,  while  the  floating  line 
streamed  out,  remained  quite  motionless,  but  we  distinctly 
saw  the  spinnerets  not  only  projected,  as  is  always  done  when 
a  spider  spins,  but  moved  in  the  same  wTay  as  an  infant  moves 
its  lips  when  sucking.  We  cannot  doubt,  therefore,  that  this 
motion  is  intended  to  emit  (if  eject  or  project  be  deemed  words 
too  strong),  the  liquid  material  of  the  thread  ;  at  the  same  time, 


d'air  pousse  Fautre  extremite  de  Fun  d'eux  au  de  la  de  Fobstacle." — Diet.  Clas- 
sique  d'Hist.  Nat.,  vol.  i.  p.  510. 


' '  v,;r  S> 

SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE   SPlfeE^     j         liB^  ) 

we  are  quite  certain  that  it  cannot  throw  out  a^'srS^ljn  i^Xaif^ 
thread  without  the  aid  of  a  current  of  air.  A  long-bodied 
spider  will  thus  throw  out  in  succession  as  many  threads  as  we 
please,  by  simply  blowing  towards  it ;  but  not  one  where  there 
is  no  current,  as  under  a  bell-glass,  where  it  may  be  kept  till  it 
die,  without  being  able  to  construct  a  bridge  over  water  of  an 
inch  long.  We  never  observed  more  than  one  floating  thread 
produced  at  the  same  time ;  though  other  observers  mention 
several. 

"  The  probable  commencement,  we  think,  of  the  floating  line, 
is  by  the  emission  of  little  globules  of  the  glutinous  material  to 
the  points  of  the  spinnerules — perhaps  it  may  be  dropped  from 
them,  if  not  ejected,  and  the  globules  being  carried  off  by  the 
current  of  air,  drawn  out  into  a  thread.  But  we  give  this  as 
only  a  conjecture,  for  we  could  not  bring  a  glass  of  sufficient 
power  to  bear  upon  the  spinnerules  at  the  commencement  of 
the  floating  line. 

"  In  subsequent  experiments  we  found,  that  it  was  not  indis- 
pensable for  the  spider  to  rest  upon  a  solid  body  when  producing 
a  line,  as  she  can  do  so  while  she  is  suspended  in  the  air  by 
another  line.  When  the  current  of  air  also  is  strong,  she  will 
sometimes  commit  herself  to  it  by  swinging  from  the  end  of  the 
line.  We  have  even  remarked  this  when  there  was  scarcely  a 
breath  of  air. 

"  We  tried  another  experiment.  We  pressed  pretty  firmly 
upon  the  base  of  the  spinnerets,  so  as  not  to  injure  the  spider, 
blowing  obliquely  over  them ;  but  no  floating  line  appeared. 
We  then  touched  them  with  a  pencil  and  drew  out  several 
lines  an  inch  or  two  in  length,  upon  which  we  blew  in  order  to 
extend  them,  but  in  this  also  we  were  unsuccessful,  as  they  did 
not  lengthen  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  We  next  traced 
out  the  reservoirs  of  a  garden-spider  (Epeira  diadema),  and 
immediately  taking  a  drop  of  the  matter  from  one  of  them  on 
the  point  of  a  fine  needle,  we  directed  upon  it  a  strong  current 
of  air,  and  succeeded  in  blowing  out  a  thick  yellow  line,  as  we 
might  have  done  with  gum-water,  of  about  an  inch  and  a  half 
long. 

u  When  we  observed  our  long-bodied  spider  eager  to  throw  a 

20 


154         CULTIVATION   AND  MANUFACTURE   OF  SILK. 

line  by  raising  up  its  body,  we  brought  within  three  inches  of 
its  spinnerets  an  excited  stick  of  sealing-wax,  of  which  it  took 
no  notice,  nor  did  any  thread  extend  to  it,  not  even  when 
brought  almost  to  touch  the  spinnerets.  We  experienced  the 
same  want  of  success  with  an  excited  glass  rod ;  and  indeed 
had  not  anticipated  any  other  result,  as  we  have  never  observed 
that  either  these  attract  or  repel  the  floating  threads,  as  Mr. 
Murray  has  seen  them  do ;  nor  have  we  ever  noticed  the  end 
of  a  floating  thread  separated  into  its  component  threadlets  and 
diverging  like  a  brush,  as  he  and  Mr.  Bowman  describe  (See 
Fig.  11.).  It  may  be  proper  to  mention  that  Mr.  Murray,  in 
conformity  with  his  theory,  explains  the  shooting  of  lines  in  a 
current  of  air  by  the  electric  state  produced  by  motion  in  con- 
sequence of  the  mutual  friction  of  the  gaseous  particles.  But 
this  view  of  the  matter  does  not  seem  to  affect  our  state- 
ments." 

Nests,  Webs,  and  Nets  of  Spiders. — "  The  neatest," 
says  Mr.  Rennie,  "  though  the  smallest  spider's  nest  which 
we  have  seen,  was  constructed  in  the  chink  of  a  garden- 
post,  Avhich  we  had  cut  out  the  previous  summer  in  getting 
at  the  cells  of  a  carpenter-bee.  The  architect  was  one  of  the 
larger  hunting-spiders,  erroneously  said  by  some  naturalists  to 
be  incapable  of  spinning.  The  nest  in  question  was  about 
two  inches  high,  composed  of  a  very  close  satin-like  texture. 
There  were  two  parallel  chambers  placed  perpendicularly,  in 
which  position  also  the  inhabitant  reposed  there  during  the  day. 
going,  as  we  presume,  only  abroad  to  prey  during  the  night. 
But  the  most  remarkable  circumstance  was,  that  the  openings 
(two  above  and  two  below)  were  so  elastic,  that  they  shut  close- 
ly together.  We  observed  this  spider  for  several  months,  but 
at  last  it  disappeared,  and  we  took  the  nest  out  under  the  no- 
tion that  it  might  contain  eggs ;  but  found  none,  and  therefore 
concluded  that  it  was  only  used  as  a  day  retreat."  The  ac- 
count which  Evelyn  has  given  of  these  hunting  spiders  is  so 
interesting  that  we  must  transcribe  it. 

"  Of  all  sorts  of  insects,"  says  he,  "  none  have  afforded 
me  more  diver tisement  than  the  venatores  (hunters),  which 
are  a  sort  of  lupi  (wolves)  that  have  their  dens  in  rugged 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE  SPIDER. 


155 


walls  and  crevices  of  our  houses ;  a  small  brown  and  delicately- 
spotted  kind  of  spiders,  whose  hinder  legs  are  longer  than  the 
rest.  Such  I  did  frequently  observe  at  Rome,  which,  espying 
a  fly  at  three  or  four  yards  distance,  upon  the  balcony  where  I 
stood,  would  not  make  directly  to  her,  but  crawl  under  the 
rail,  till  being-  arrived  to  the  antipodes,  it  would  steal  up, 
seldom  missing  its  aim;  but  if  it  chanced  to  want  anything 
of  being  perfectly  opposite,  would,  at  first  peep,  immediate- 
ly slide  doion  again, — till  taking  better  notice,  it  woidd 
come  the  next  time  exactly  upon  the  fltfs  back  :  but  if  this 
happened  not  to  be  within  a  competent  leap,  then  would  this 
insect  move  so  softly,  as  the  very  shadow  of  the  gnomon 
seemed  not  to  be  more  imperceptible,  unless  the  fly  moved  ; 
and  then  would  the  spider  move  also  in  the  same  proportion, 
keeping  that  just  time  with  her  motion,  as  if  the  same  soul 
had  animated  both  these  little  bodies  ;  and  whether  it  were 
fomuards,  backwards,  or  to  either  side,  'without  at  cdl  turn- 
ing her  body,  like  a  well-managed  horse :  but  if  the  capri- 
cious fly  took  wing  and  pitched  upon  another  place  behind 
our  huntress,  then  vjould  the  spider  whirl  its  body  so  nimbly 
about,  as  nothing  coidd  be  imagined  more  swift :  by  ivhich 
means  she  always  kept  the  head  towards  her  prey,  though, 
to  appearance,  as  immoveable  as  if  it  had  been  a  nail  driven 
into  the  wood,  till  by  that  indiscernible  progress  {being  ar- 
rived within  the  sphere  of  her  reach)  she  made  a  fatal  leap, 
swift  as  lightning,  upon  the  fly,  catching  him  in  the  pole, 
where  she  never  quitted  hold  till  her  belly  was  full,  and  then 
carried  the  remainder  homeP 

One  feels  a  little  sceptical,  however,  when  he  adds,  u  I  have 
beheld  them  instructing  their  young  ones  how  to  hunt,  which 
they  would  sometimes  discipline  for  not  well  observing;  but 
when  any  of  the  old  ones  did  (as  sometimes)  miss  a  leap,  they 
would  run  out  of  the  field  and  hide  themselves  in  their  cran- 
nies, as  ashamed,  and  haply  not  to  be  seen  abroad  for  four 
or  five  hours  after  ;  for  so  long  have  I  watched  the  nature  of 
this  strange  insect,  the  contemplation  of  whose  so  wonderful 
sagacity  and  address  has  amazed  me ;  nor  do  I  find  in  any 
chase  whatsoever  more  cunning  and  stratagem  observed.  I 


156        CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

have  found  some  of  these  spiders  in  my  garden,  when  the 
weather,  towards  spring,  was  very  hot,  but  they  are  not  so 
eager  in  hunting  as  in  Italy*." 

We  have  only  to  add  to  this  lively  narrative,  that  the  hunt- 
ing-spider, when  he  leaps,  takes  good  care  to  provide  against 
accidental  falls  by  always  swinging  himself  from  a  good  strong 
cable  of  silk,  as  Swammerdam  correctly  statest,  and  which  any- 
body may  recognise,  as  one  of  the  small  hunters  (Salticus 
scenicus),  known  by  its  back  striped  with  black  and  white  like 
a  zebra. 

Mr.  Weston,  the  editor  of  "  Bloomfield's  Remains,"  falls  into 
a  very  singular  mistake  about  hunting-spiders,  imagining  them 
to  be  web-weaving  ones  which  have  exhausted  their  materials, 
and  are  therefore  compelled  to  hunt.  In  proof  of  this  he  gives 
an  instance  which  came  under  his  own  observation!  ! 

"  As  a  contrast,"  says  Mr.  Rennie,  "  to  the  little  elastic  satin 
nest  of  the  hunter,  we  may  mention  the  largest  with  which  we 
are  acquainted, — that  of  the  labyrinthic  spider  (Agelena  laby- 
rinthica,  Walckenaer).  Our  readers  must  often  have  seen 
this  nest  spread  out  like  a  broad  sheet  in  hedges,  furze,  and 
other  low  bushes,  and  sometimes  on  the  ground.  The  middle 
of  this  sheet,  which  is  of  a  close  texture,  is  swung  like  a  sail- 
ors hammock,  by  silken  ropes  extended  all  around  to  the 
higher  branches ;  but  the  whole  curves  upwards  and  back- 
wards, sloping  down  to  a  long  funnel-shaped  gallery  which  is 
nearly  horizontal  at  the  entrance,  but  soon  winds  obliquely  till 
it  becomes  quite  perpendicular.  This  curved  gallery  is  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  is  much  more  closely  woven 
than  the  sheet  part  of  the  web,  and  sometimes  descends  into  a 
hole  in  the  ground,  though  oftener  into  a  group  of  crowded 
twigs,  or  a  tuft  of  grass.  Here  the  spider  dwells  secure,  fre- 
quently resting  with  her  legs  extended  from  the  entrance  of 
the  gallery,  ready  to  spring  out  upon  whatever  insect  may  fall 
into  her  sheet  net.  She  herself  can  only  be  caught  by  getting 
behind  her  and  forcing  her  out  into  the  web  ;  but  though  we 


*  Evelyn's  Travels  in  Italy.  t  Book  of  Nature,  part  i.  p.  24. 

t  Bloomfield's  Remains,  vol.  ii.  p.  64,  note. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE  SPIDER. 


157 


have  often  endeavored  to  make  her  construct  a  nest  under  our 
eye,  we  have  been  as  unsuccesful  as  in  similar  experiments  with 
the  common  house  spider  (Aranea  domestica). 

"  The  house  spider's  proceedings  were  long  ago  described  by 
Homberg,  and  the  account  has  been  copied,  as  usual,  by  almost 
every  subsequent  writer.  Goldsmith  has,  indeed,  given  some 
strange  mis-statements  from  his  own  observations,  and  Bingley 
has  added  the  original  remark,  that,  after  fixing  its  first  thread, 
creeping  along  the  wall,  and  joining  it  as  it  proceeds,  it  6  darts 
itself  to  the  opposite  side,  where  the  other  end  is  to  be  fasten- 
ed* P  Homberg's  spider  took  the  more  circuitous  route  of  trav- 
elling to  the  opposite  wall,  carrying  in  one  of  its  claws  the  end 
of  the  thread  previously  fixed,  lest  it  should  stick  in  the  wrong 
place.  This  we  believe  to  be  the  correct  statement,  for  as  the 
web  is  always  horizontal,  it  would  seldom  answer  to  commit  a 
floating  thread  to  the  wind,  as  is  done  by  other  species.  Hom- 
berg's  spider,  after  stretching  as  many  lines  by  way  of  warp  as 
it  deemed  sufficient  between  the  two  walls  of  the  corner  which 
it  had  chosen,  proceeded  to  cross  this  in  the  way  our  weavers  do 
in  adding  the  woof,  with  this  difference,  that  the  spider's  threads 
were  only  laid  on,  and  not  interlaced!.  The  domestic  spiders, 
however,  in  these  modern  days,  must  have  forgot  this  mode  of 
weaving,  for  none  of  their  webs  will  be  found  thus  regularly 
constructed !" 

The  geometric,  or  net-working  spiders  (See  Fig.  12.  Plate 
IV.)  are  as  well  known  as  any  of  the  preceding ;  almost  every 
bush  and  tree  in  our  gardens  and  hedge-rows  having  one  or 
more  of  their  nests  stretched  out  in  a  vertical  position  between 
adjacent  branches.  The  common  garden  spider  (Epeira  dia- 
dema),  and  the  long-bodied  spider  ( Tetragnatha  extensa),  are 
the  best  known  of  this  order. 

"  The  chief  care  of  a  spider  of  this  sort,"  says  Mr.  Rennie, 
"  is,  to  form  a  cable  of  sufficient  strength  to  bear  the  net  she 
means  to  hang  upon  it ;  and  after  throwing  out  a  floating  line 
as  above  described,  when  it  catches  properly,  she  doubles  and 


*  Animal  Biography,  iii.  470,  471. 

t  Mem.  de  l'Acad.  des  Sciences,  pour  1707,  p.  339. 


158         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE   OF  SILK. 

redoubles  it  with  additional  threads.  On  trying  its  strength  she 
is  not  contented  with  the  test  of  pulling  it  with  her  legs,  but 
drops  herself  down  several  feet  from  various  points  of  it,  as  we 
have  often  seen,  swinging  and  bobbing  with  the  whole  weight 
of  her  body.  She  proceeds  in  a  similar  manner  with  the  rest 
of  the  frame  of  her  wheel-shaped  net ;  and  it  may  be  remarked 
that  some  of  the  ends  of  these  lines  are  not  simple,  but  in  form 
of  a  Y,  giving  her  the  additional  security  of  two  attachments 
instead  of  one." 

In  constructing  the  body  of  the  nest,  the  most  remarkable 
circumstance  is  the  using  of  her  limbs  as  a  measure,  to  regu- 
late the  distances  of  her  radii  or  wheel-spokes  (See  Fig.  12. 
Plate  IV.,  which  represents  the  geometric  net  of  the  "  Epeira 
diadema"\  and  the  circular  meshes  interwoven  into  them. 
These  are  consequently  always  proportional  to  the  size  of  the 
spider.  She  often  takes  up  her  station  in  the  centre,  but  not 
always,  though  it  is  so  said  by  inaccurate  writers ;  but  she  as 
frequently  lurks  in  a  little  chamber  constructed  under  a  leaf  or 
other  shelter  at  the  corner  of  her  web,  ready  to  dart  down  upon 
whatever  prey  may  be  entangled  in  her  net.  The  centre  of 
the  net  is  said  also  to  be  composed  of  more  viscid  materials  than 
its  suspensory  lines, — a  circumstance  alleged  to  be  proved  by 
the  former  appearing  under  the  micoscrope  studded  with  glo- 
bules of  gum*.  "  We  have  not  been  able,"  says  Mr.  Rennie, 
"  to  verify  this  distinction,  having  seen  the  suspensory  lines  as 
often  studded  in  this  manner  as  those  in  the  centre." 

At  the  commencement  of  the  last  century  a  method  was 
discovered  in  France  by  Monsieur  Bon,  of  procuring  silk  from 
spiders'  bags,  and  its  use  was  attempted  in  the  manufacture  of 
several  articles.  Mr.  Bon  has,  however,  noticed  only  two  kinds 
of  silk-making  spiders,  and  these  he  has  distinguished  from 
each  other  as  having  either  long  or  short  legs,  the  last  variety 
producing  the  finest  quality  of  raw  silk.  According  to  this  in- 
genious observer,  the  silk  formed  by  these  insects  is  equally 
beautiful,  strong,  and  glossy  with  that  formed  by  the  silk -worm. 
When  first  formed,  the  color  of  these  spiders'  bags  is  gray,  but, 


*  Kirby  and  Spence,  Intr.  i.  419. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE  SPIDER. 


159 


by  exposure  to  the  air,  they  soon  acquire  a  blackish  hue.  Other 
spider  bags  might  probably  be  found  of  different  colors,  and  af- 
fording silk  of  better  quality,  but  their  scarcity  would  render 
any  experiment  with  them  difficult  of  accomplishment;  for 
which  reason  M.  Bon  confined  his  attention  to  the  bags  of  the 
common  sort  of  the  short-legged  kind. 

These  always  form  their  bags  in  some  place  sheltered  from 
the  wind  and  rain,  such  as  the  hollow  trunks  of  trees,  the  cor- 
ners of  windows  or  vaults,  or  under  the  eaves  of  houses.  A 
quantity  of  the  bags  was  collected  from  which  a  new  kind  of 
silk  was  made,  said  to  be  in  no  respect  inferior  to  the  produce 
of  the  silk-worm.  It  took  readily  all  kinds  of  dyes,  and  might 
have  been  wrought  into  any  description  of  silken  fabric.  Mr. 
Bon  had  stockings  and  gloves  made  from  it,  some  of  which  he 
presented  to  the  Royal  Academy  of  Paris,  and  others  he  trans- 
mitted to  the  Royal  Society  of  London. 

This  silk  was  prepared  in  the  following  manner : — Twelve  or 
thirteen  ounces  of  the  bags  were  beaten  with  a  stick,  until  they 
became  entirely  freed  from  dust.  They  were  next  washed  in 
warm  water,  which  was  continually  changed,  until  it  no  longer 
became  clouded  or  discolored  by  the  bags  under  process.  After 
this  they  were  steeped  in  a  large  quantity  of  water  wherein 
soap,  saltpetre,  and  gum-arabic  had  been  dissolved.  The 
whole  was  then  gently  boiled  during  three  hours,  after  which 
the  bags  were  rinsed  in  clear  warm  water  to  discharge  the 
soap.  They  were  finally  set  out  to  dry,  previous  to  the  opera- 
tion of  carding,  which  was  then  performed  with  cards  differ- 
ing from  those  usually  employed  with  silk,  being  much  finer. 
By  these  means  silk  of  a  peculiar  ash  color  was  obtained, 
which  was  spun  without  difficulty.  Mr.  Bon  affirmed  that 
the  thread  was  both  stronger  and  finer  than  common  silk,  and 
that  therefore  fabrics  similar  to  those  made  with  the  latter  ma- 
terial might  be  manufactured  from  this,  there  being  no  reason 
for  doubting  that  it  would  stand  any  trials  of  the  loom,  after 
having  undergone  those  of  the  stocking  frame. 

The  only  obstacle,  therefore,  which  appeared  to  prevent  the 
establishing  of  any  considerable  manufacture  from  these  spider 
bags  was  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  them  in  sufficient  abund- 


160         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

ance.  Mr.  Bon  fancied  that  this  objection  could  soon  be  over- 
come, and  that  the  art  of  domesticating  and  rearing  spiders,  as 
practised  with  silk-worms,  was  to  be  attained.  Carried  away 
by  the  enthusiasm  of  one  who,  having  made  a  discovery,  pur- 
sues it  with  ardor  undismayed  by  difficulties,  he  met  every  ob- 
jection by  comparisons,  which  perhaps  were  not  wholly  and 
strictly  founded  on  fact.  Contrasted  with  the  spider,  and  to 
favor  his  arguments,  the  silk-worm  in  his  hands  made  a  very 
despicable  figure.  He  affirmed  that  the  female  spider  produces 
600  or  700  eggs ;  while  of  the  100,  to  which  number  he  limit- 
ed the  silk-worm,  not  more  than  one-half  were  reared  to  pro- 
duce balls.  That  the  spiders  hatched  spontaneously,  without 
any  care,  in  the  months  of  August  and  September ;  that  the 
old  spiders  dying  soon  after  they  have  laid  their  eggs,  the  young 
ones  live  for  ten  or  twelve  months  without  food,  and  continue 
in  their  bags  without  growing,  until  the  hot  weather,  by  put- 
ting their  viscid  juices  in  motion,  induces  them  to  come  forth, 
spin,  and  run  about  in  search  of  food. 

Mr.  Bon's  spider  establishment,  was  managed  in  the  follow- 
ing manner:  —  having  ordered  all  the  short-legged  spiders 
which  could  be  collected  by  persons  employed  for  the  purpose, 
to  be  brought  to  him,  he  inclosed  them  in  paper  coffins  and 
pots ;  these  were  covered  with  papers,  which,  as  well  as  the 
coffins,  were  pricked  over  their  surface  with  pin-holes  to  admit 
air  to  the  prisoners.  The  insects  were  duly  fed  with  flies,  and 
after  some  time  it  was  found  on  inspection  that  the  greater 
part  of  them  had  formed  their  bags.  This  advocate  for  the 
rearing  of  spiders  contended  that  spiders'  bags  afforded  much 
more  silk  in  proportion  to  their  weight  than  those  of  the  silk- 
worm; in  proof  of  which  he  observed,  that  thirteen  ounces 
yield  nearly  four  ounces  of  pure  silk,  two  ounces  of  which  were 
sufficient  to  make  a  pair  of  stockings ;  whereas  stockings  made 
of  common  silk  were  said  by  him  to  weigh  seven  or  eight 
ounces. 

It  was  objected  by  some  of  Mr.  Bon's  contemporaries,  that 
spiders  were  venomous ;  and  this  is  so  far  true  that  a  bite  fagai 
some  of  the  species  is  very  painful,  producing  as  much  swelling 
as  the  smart  sting  of  a  nettle.    Mr.  Bon,  however,  asserted  that 


SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE   SPIDER.  161 

he  was  several  times  bitten,  without  experiencing  any  inconve- 
nience ;  if  so,  he  was  more  fortunate  or  less  sensitive  than  any 
of  the  spider-tamers  with  whom  we  have  been  acquainted.  It 
was  further  asserted,  that  this  venom  extended  itself  to  the  silk 
which  the  spider  produced ;  but  this  assertion  was  utterly  ab- 
surd, as  any  one  who  has  ever  applied  a  cobweb  to  stop  the 
bleeding  from  a  cut  ought  to  have  known.  Mr.  Bon  declared 
with  perfect  truth,  that  the  silk,  so  far  from  being  pernicious, 
was  useful  in  staunching  and  healing  wounds,  its  natural  glu- 
ten acting  as  a  kind  of  balsam. 

The  honest  enthusiasm  of  the  projector,  and  the  singularity 
of  a  regular  establishment  being  formed  for  rearing  and  work- 
ing spiders,  excited  a  considerable  share  of  public  attention.  It 
was,  indeed,  an  age  of  strange  speculations,  for  nearly  at  the 
same  time  a  German  gentleman  broached  a  scheme  for  turn- 
ing tame  squirrels  and  mice  to  account  in  spinning ;  and  com- 
panies were  formed  in  England,  with  large  nominal  capitals  to 
carry  out  schemes  still  more  preposterous.  So  important  did 
Mr.  Bon's  project  appear  to  the  French  Academy,  that  they 
deputed  the  eminent  naturalist,  M.  Reaumur,  to  investigate 
the  merits  of  this  new  silk-filament. 

After  a  long  and  patient  examination  M.  Reaumur  stated  the 
following  objections  to  Mr.  Bon's  plan  for  raising  spider-silk, 
which  have  ever  since  been  regarded  as  insurmountable. 

1.  The  natural  fierceness  of  spiders  renders  them  unfit  to  be 
bred  together.  On  distributing  four  or  five  thousand  of  these 
insects  into  cells  or  companies  of  from  fifty  to  one  or  two  hun- 
dred, it  was  found  that  the  larger  spiders  quickly  killed  and 
ate  the  smaller,  so  that  in  a  short  space  of  time  the  cells  were 
depopulated,  scarcely  more  than  one  or  two  being  found  in  each 
cell. 

2.  The  silk  of  the  spider  is  inferior  to  that  of  the  silk-worm 
both  in  lustre  and  strength  ;  and  produces  less  material  in  pro- 
portion, than  can  be  made  available  for  the  purposes  of  the 
manufacture.  The  filament  of  the  spider's-bag  can  support  a 
weight  of  only  thirty-six  grains,  while  that  of  the  silk-worm 
will  sustain  a  weight  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  grains.  Thus 
four  or  five  threads  of  the  spider  must  be  brought  together  to 

21 


162         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OP  SILK. 

equal  one  thread  of  the  silk-worm,  and  as  it  is  impossible  that 
these  should  be  applied  so  accurately  over  each  other  as  not  to, 
leave  little  vacant  spaces  between  them,  the  light  is  not  equally 
reflected,  and  the  lustre  of  the  material  is  consequently  inferior 
to  that  in  which  a  solid  thread  is  used. 

3.  A  great  disadvantage  of  the  spider's  silk  is,  that  it  cannot 
be  wound  off  the  ball  like  that  of  the  silk-worm,  but  must  ne- 
cessarily be  carded.  By  this  latter  process,  its  evenness,  which 
contributes  so  materially  to  its  lustre,  is  destroyed. 

The  ferociousness  and  pugnacity  of  the  spiders  are  not  ex- 
aggerated ;  they  fight  like  furies.  Their  voracity,  too,  is  al- 
most incredible,  and  it  is  very  questionable  whether  the  mere 
collection  of  flies  sufficient  to  feed  a  large  number  of  the  spi- 
ders would  not  involve  an  amount  of  expense  fatal  to  the  proj- 
ect as  a  lucrative  undertaking.  The  strength  of  the  spiders7 
filament  is,  if  anything,  overstated  by  Reaumur.  Deficiency 
of  lustre  arising  from  the  carding  of  the  filaments  is  common 
to  the  spider-fabric  and  to  spun  silk  ;  this  objection  would,  per- 
haps, not  be  of  very  great  weight  but  for  the  decisive  calcula- 
tion by  which  Reaumur  showed  the  comparative  amount  of 
production  between  the  spider  and  the  silk-worm. 

The  largest  cocoons  weigh  four,  and  the  smaller  three  grains 
each ;  spider-bags  do  not  weigh  above  one  grain  each ;  and, 
after  being  cleared  of  their  dust,  have  lost  two-thirds  of  this 
weight ;  therefore  the  work  of  twelve  spiders  equals  that  of 
only  one  silk-worm  ;  and  a  pound  of  spider-silk  would  require 
for  its  prodi  ction  27,648  insects.  But  as  the  bags  are  wholly 
the  work  of  the  females,  who  spin  them  as  a  deposit  for  their 
eggs,  it  follows  that  55,296  spiders  must  be  reared  to  yield  one 
pound  of  silk:  yet  this  will  be  obtained  only  from  the  best 
spiders ;  those  large  ones  ordinarily  seen  in  gardens,  &c,  yield- 
ing not  more  than  a  twelfth  part  of  the  silk  of  the  others. 
The  work  of  280  of  these  would  therefore  not  yield  more  silk 
than  the  produce  of  one  industrious  silk-worm,  and  663,552  of 
them  would  furnish  only  one  pound  of  silk ! 

Although  Reaumur's  report  completely  extinguished  Mr. 
Bon's  project  in  France,  it  was  revived  in  England  two  or 
three  times  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.    Swift  has 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE  SPIDER 


163 


not  neglected  to  make  it  a  portion  of  his  unrivalled  satire 
against  speculators  and  projectors,  in  his  account  of  Gulliver's 
visit  to  the  Academy  of  Lagado : 

"  I  went  into  another  room,  says  he,  where  the  walls  and  ceilings  were  all  hung 
round  with  cobwebs,  exept  a  narrow  passage  for  the  artist  to  go  in  and  out.  At 
my  entrance  he  called  out  to  me  not  to  disturb  his  webs.  He  lamented  the  fatal 
mistake  the  world  had  been  so  long  in,  of  using  silk-worms,  while  we  had  such 
plenty  of  domestic  insects,  who  infinitely  excelled  the  former,  because  they  under- 
stood how  to  weave  as  well  as  spin.  And  he  proposed  further,  that,  by  employing 
spiders,  the  charge  of  dyeing  silk  should  be  wholly  saved ;  whereof  I  was  fully 
convinced,  when  he  showed  me  a  vast  number  of  flies  most  beautifully  colored, 
Wherewith  he  fed  his  spiders,  assuring  us  that  the  webs  would  take  a  tincture  from 
them,  and  as  he  had  them  of  all  hues,  he  hoped  to  suit  every  body's  fancy,  as  soon 
as  he  could  find  proper  food  for  the  flies,  of  certain  gums,  oils,  and  other  glutinous 
matter  to  give  a  strength  and  consistency  to  the  threads." 

The  Ingenuity  of  Spiders. — Mr.  Thomas  Ewbank  of 
New  York,  in  a  letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Journal  of  the 
Franklin  Institute,  bearing  date  September  20th  1842,  gives  us 
the  following  interesting  description  of  the  ingenuity  of  the 
Spider. 

"  The  resources  of  the  lower  animals  have  often  excited  admi- 
ration, and  though  no  comprehensive  and  systematic  series  of 
observations  have  yet  been  made  upon  them(?),  the  time  is,  I 
believe,  not  distant  when  the  task  will  be  undertaken — perhaps 
within  the  next  century.  But  whenever  and  by  whomsoever 
accomplished,  the  mechanism  of  animals  will  then  form  the 
subject  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  useful  volumes  in 
the  archives  of  man. 

"Among  insects,  spiders  have  repeatedly  been  observed  to 
modify  and  change  their  contrivances  for  ensnaring  their 
prey.  Those  that  live  in  fields  and  gardens  often  fabricate 
their  nets  or  webs  vertically.  This  sometimes  occurs  in  loca- 
tions where  there  is  no  object  sufficiently  near  to  which  the 
lower  edge  or  extremity  of  the  web  can  properly  be  braced  ; 
and  unless  this  be  done,  light  puffs  or  breezes  of  wind  are  apt 
to  blow  it  into  an  entangled  mass.  Instead  of  being  spread  out, 
like  the  sail  of  a  ship,  to  the  wind,  it  would  become  clewed  over 
the  upper  line,  or  edge,  like  a  sail  when  furled  up.  Now  how 
would  a  human  engineer  act  under  similar  circumstances  ?  But 


164        CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

ere  the  reader  begins  to  reflect(!),  he  should  bear  in  mind  that 
it  would  not  do  to  brace  the  web  by  running  rigging  from  it  to 
some  fixed  or  immovable  object  below — by  no  means ; — for  were 
this  done,  it  could  not  yield  to  impulses  of  wind ;  the  rigging 
would  be  snapped  by  the  first  blast,  and  the  whole  structure 
probably  destroyed. 

"  Whatever  contrivances  human  sagacity  might  suggest,  they 
could  hardly  excel  those  which  these  despised  engineers  some- 
times adopt.  Having  formed  a  web,  under  circumstances  simi- 
lar to  those  to  which  we  have  referred,  a  spider  has  been  known 
to  descend  from  it  to  the  ground  by  means  of  a  thread  spun  for 
the  purpose,  and  after  selecting  a  minute  pebble,  or  piece  of 
stone,  has  coiled  the  end  of  the  thread  round  it.  Having  done 
this,  the  ingenious  artist  ascended,  and  fixing  himself  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  web,  hoisted  up  the  pebble  until  it  swung  sev- 
eral inches  clear  of  the  ground.  The  cord  to  which  the  weight 
was  suspended  was  then  secured  by  additional  ones,  running 
from  it  to  different  parts  of  the  web,  which  thus  acquired  the 
requisite  tension,  and  was  allowed,  at  the  same  time,  to  yield  to 
sudden  puffs  of  wind  without  danger  of  being  rent  asunder. 

"  A  similar  instance  came  under  my  notice  a  few  days  ago. 
A  large  spider  had  constructed  his  web,  in  nearly  a  vertical  po- 
sition, about  six  feet  from  the  ground,  in  a  corner  of  my  yard. 
The  upper  edge  was  formed  by  a  strong  thread,  secured  at  one 
end  to  a  vine  leaf,  and  the  other  to  a  clothes  line.  One  part  of 
the  lower  edge  was  attached  to  a  Penyan  sun-flower,  and  an- 
other to  a  trellis  fence,  four  or  five  feet  distant.  Between  these 
there  was  no  object  nearer  than  the  ground,  to  which  an  addi- 
tional brace  line  could  be  carried  ;  but  two  threads,  a  foot  asun- 
der, descended  from  this  part  of  the  web,  and,  eight  or  ten  inches 
below  it,  were  united  at  a  point.  From  this  point,  a  single  line, 
four  or  five  inches  long,  was  suspended,  and  to  its  lower  extrem- 
ity was  the  weight,  a  living  one,  viz.  a  worm,  three  inches 
long,  and  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick.  The  cord  was  fasten- 
ed around  the  middle  of  the  victim's  body,  and  as  no  object  was 
within  reach,  all  its  writhings  and  efforts  to  escape  were  fruit- 
less. Its  weight  answered  the  same  purpose  as  a  piece  of  in- 
animate matter,  while  its  sufferings  seemed  not  in  the  least  to 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE   SPIDER.  165 

disturb  the  unconcerned  murderer,  who  lay  waiting  for  his  prey 
above. 

"  Whether  the  owner  of  the  web  found  it  a  more  easy  task 
to  capture  this  unlucky  worm  and  raise  it,  than  to  elevate  a 
stone  of  the  same  weight,  may  be  a  question(?).  Perhaps  in 
seeking  for  the  latter,  the  former  fell  in  his  way,  and  was  seized 
as  the  first  suitable  object  that  came  to  hand — like  the  human 
tyrant,  (Domitian)  who,  to  show  his  skill  in  archery,  planted 
his  arrows  in  the  heads  of  men  or  cattle,  in  the  absence  of  other 
targets.  It  may  be,  however,  that  a  piece  of  stone,  earth,  or 
wood,  of  a  suitable  weight,  was  not  in  the  vicinity  of  the  web. 

"  To  observe  the  effect  of  this  weight,  I  separated,  with  a 
pair  of  scissors,  the  thread  by  which  it  was  suspended,  and  in- 
stantly the  web  sunk  to  half  its  previous  dimensions — the  lower 
part  became  loose,  and  with  the  slightest  current  kept  shaking 
like  a  sail  shivering  in  the  wind.  A  fresh  weight  was  not  sup- 
plied by  the  next  morning ;  but  instead  of  it  two  long  brace 
lines  extended  from  the  lower  part  of  the  web  to  two  vine  ten- 
drils, a  considerable  distance  off.  These  I  cut  away  to  see  what 
device  would  be  next  adopted,  but  on  going  to  examine  it  the 
following  day,  I  found  the  clothes  line  removed,  and  with  it  all 
relics  of  the  insect's  labors  had  disappeared." 

Mason-Spiders. — A  no  less  wonderful  structure  is  com- 
posed by  a  sort  of  spiders,  natives  of  the  tropics  and  the  south 
of  Europe,  which  have  been  justly  called  mason-spiders  by  M. 
Latreille.  One  of  these  (My gale  nidulans,  Walckn.),  found 
in  the  West  Indies,  "  digs  a  hole  in  the  earth  obliquely  down- 
wards, about  three  inches  in  length,  and  one  in  diameter. 
This  cavity  she  lines  with  a  tough  thick  web,  which,  when 
taken  out,  resembles  a  leathern  purse  ;  but  what  is  most  curi- 
ous, this  house  has  a  door  with  hinges,  like  the  operculum  of 
some  sea-shells,  and  herself  and  family,  who  tenant  this  nest, 
open  and  shut  the  door  whenever  they  pass  and  repass.  This 
history  was  told  me,"  says  Darwin,  "  and  the  nest,  with  its  door, 
shown  me  by  the  late  Dr.  Butt,  of  Bath,  who  was  some  years 
physician  in  Jamaica*." 


*  Darwin's  Zoonomia,  i.  253,  Svo.  ed. 


166         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

"  The  nest  of  a  mason-spider,  similar  to  this,"  says  Mr.  Ren- 
nie,  "  has  been  obligingly  put  into  our  hands  by  Mr.  Riddle  of 
Blackheath.  It  came  from  the  West  Indies,  and  is  probably 
that  of  Latreille's  clay-kneader  {My gale  cratiens),  and  one  of 
the  smallest  of  the  genus.  We  have  since  seen  a  pair  of  these 
spiders  in  possession  of  Mr.  William  Mello,  of  Blackheath. 
The  nest  is  composed  of  very  hard  argillaceous  clay,  deeply 
tinged  with  brown  oxide  of  iron.  It  is  in  form  of  a  tube,  about 
one  inch  in  diameter,  between  six  and  seven  inches  long,  and 
slightly  bent  towards  the  lower  extremity — appearing  to  have 
been  mined  into  the  clay  rather  than  built.  The  interior  of 
the  tube  is  lined  with  a  uniform  tapestry  of  silken  web,  of 
an  orange-white  color,  with  a  texture  intermediate  between 
India  paper  and  very  fine  glove  leather.  But  the  most  won- 
derful part  of  this  nest  is  its  entrance,  which  we  look  upon  as 
the  perfection  of  insect  architecture.  A  circular  door,  about 
the  size  of  a  crown  piece,  slightly  concave  on  the  outside  and 
convex  within,  is  formed  of  more  than  a  dozen  layers  of  the 
same  web  which  lines  the  interior,  closely  laid  upon  one  an- 
other, and  shaped  so  that  the  inner  layers  are  the  broadest,  the 
outer  being  gradually  less  in  diameter,  except  towards  the 
hinge,  which  is  about  an  inch  long ;  and  in  consequence  of  all 
the  layers  being  united  there,  and  prolonged  into  the  tube,  it 
becomes  the  thickest  and  strongest  part  of  the  structure.  The 
elasticity  of  the  materials,  also,  gives  to  this  hinge  the  remark- 
able peculiarity  of  acting  like  a  spring,  and  shutting  the  door 
of  the  nest  spontaneously.  It  is,  besides,  made  to  fit  so  accu- 
rately to  the  aperture,  which  is  composed  of  similar  concentric 
layers  of  web,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  distinguish  the 
joining  by  the  most  careful  inspection.  To  gratify  curiosity, 
the  door  has  been  opened  and  shut  hundreds  of  times,  without 
in  the  least  destroying  the  power  of  the  spring.  When  the 
door  is  shut,  it  resembles  some  of  the  lichens  (Lecidea),  or  the 
leathery  fungi,  such  as  Polyporus  versicolor  (Micheli),  or, 
nearer  still,  the  upper  valve  of  a  young  oyster-shell.  The  door 
of  the  nest,  the  only  part  seen  above  ground,  being  of  a  black- 
ish-brown color,  it  must  be  very  difficult  to  discover." 

Another  mason-spider  (Mygale  coemeataria:  Latr.),  found 


SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  SPIDER. 


167 


in  the  south  of  Prance,  usually  selects  for  her  nest  a  place  bare 
of  grass,  sloping  in  such  a  manner  as  to  carry  off  the  water, 
and  of  a  firm  soil,  without  rocks  or  small  stones.  She  digs  a 
gallery  a  foot  or  two  in  depth,  and  of  a  diameter  (equal 
throughout)  sufficient  to  admit  of  her  easily  passing.  She 
lines  this  with  a  tapestry  of  silk  glued  to  the  walls.  The 
door,  which  is  circular,  is  constructed  of  many  layers  of  earth 
kneaded,  and  bound  together  with  silk.  Externally,  it  is  flat 
and  rough,  corresponding  to  the  earth  around  the  entrance,  for 
the  purpose,  no  doubt,  of  concealment :  on  the  inside  it  is  con- 
vex, and  tapestried  thickly  with  a  web  of  fine  silk.  The 
threads  of  this  door- tapestry  are  prolonged,  and  strongly  attach- 
ed to  the  upper  side  of  the  entrance,  forming  an  excellent 
hinge,  which,  when  pushed  open  by  the  spider,  shuts  again  by 
its  own  weight,  without  the  aid  of  spring  hinges.  When  the 
spider  is  at  home,  and  her  door  forcibly  opened  by  an  intruder, 
she  pulls  it  strongly  inwards,  and  even  where  half-opened  often 
snatches  it  out  of  the  hand ;  but  when  she  is  foiled  in  this,  she 
retreats  to  the  bottom  of  her  den,  as  her  last  resource*.  The 
nest  of  this  spider  (the  mason  spider)  is  represented  in  Plate 
IV.  Fig.  14.,  and  shows  the  nest  shut.  Fig.  15.,  represents  it 
open.  Fig.  16.  the  spider  (My gale  coementaria).  Fig.  17. 
the  eyes  magnified.  Figures  18  and  19  parts  of  the  foot  and 
claw  magnified.  Rossi  ascertained  that  the  female  of  an  allied 
species  [My gale  sauvagesii,  Latr.),  found  in  Corsica,  lived  in 
one  of  these  nests,  with  a  numerous  posterity.  He  destroyed 
one  of  the  doors  to  observe  whether  a  new  one  would  be  made, 
which  it  was ;  but  it  was  fixed  immoveably,  without  a  hinge ; 
the  spider,  no  doubt,  fortifying  herself  in  this  manner  till  she 
thought  she  might  re-open  it  without  dangerf*. 

"  The  Rev.  Revett  Shepherd  has  often  noticed,  in  the  fen 
ditches  of  Norfolk,  a  very  large  spider  (the  species  not  yet  de- 
termined) wThich  actually  forms  a  raft  for  the  purpose  of  ob- 
taining its  prey  with  more  facility.    Keeping  its  station  upon  a 


*  Mem.  Soc.  d'Hist  Nat.  de  Paris,  An.  vii. 

t  Mem.  Soc.  d'Hist.  Nat.  de  Paris,  An.  vii.  p.  125,  and  Latreille,  Hist.  Nat. 
Gener.  viii.  p.  163. 


168         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE   OF  SILK. 

ball  of  weeds  about  three  inches  in  diameter,  probably  held  to- 
gether by  slight  silken  cords,  it  is  wafted  along  the  surface  of 
the  water  upon  this  floating  island,  which  it  quits  the  moment 
it  sees  a  drowning  insect.  The  booty  thus  seized  it  devours  at 
leisure  upon  its  raft,  under  which  it  retires  when  alarmed  by 
any  danger*."  In  the  spring  of  1830,  Mr.  Rennie  found  a  spi- 
der on  some  reeds  in  the  Croydon  Canal,  which  agreed  in  ap- 
pearance with  Mr.  Shepherd's. 

Among  our  native  spiders  there  are  several,  which,  not  con- 
tented with  a  web  like  the  rest  of  their  congeners,  take  advan- 
tage of  other  materials  to  construct  cells  where,  "  hushed  in 
grim  repose"  they  "  expect  their  insect  prey.'3  The  most 
simple  of  those  spider  cells  is  constructed  by  a  longish-bodied 
spider  (Ara?iea  holosericea,  Linn.),  which  is  a  little  larger 
than  the  common  hunting  spider.  It  rolls  up  a  leaf  of  the  lilac 
or  poplar,  precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  is  done  by  the  leaf- 
rolling  caterpillars,  upon  whose  cells  it  sometimes  seizes  to  save 
itself  trouble,  having  first  expelled,  or  perhaps  devoured,  the 
rightful  owner.  The  spider,  however,  is  not  satisfied  with  the 
tapestry  of  the  caterpillar,  but  always  weaves  a  fresh  set  of 
her  owri)  more  close  and  substantial. 

Another  spider,  common  in  woods  and  copses  [Epeira  quad- 
rata  ?)  weaves  together  a  great  number  of  leaves  to  form  a 
dwelling  for  herself,  and  in  front  of  it  she  spreads  her  toils  for 
entrapping  the  unwary  insects  which  stray  thither.  These,  as 
soon  as  caught,  are  dragged  into  her  den,  and  stored  up  for  a 
time  of  scarcity.  Here  also  her  eggs  are  deposited  and  hatched 
in  safety.  When  the  cold  weather  approaches,  and  the  leaves 
of  her  edifice  wither,  she  abandons  it  for  the  more  secure  shel- 
ter of  a  hollow  tree,  where  she  soon  dies ;  but  the  continuation 
of  the  species  depends  upon  eggs,  deposited  in  the  nest  before 
winter,  and  remaining  to  be  hatched  with  the  warmth  of  the 
ensuing  summer. 

The  spider's  den  of  united  leaves,  however,  which  has  just 
been  described,  is  not  always  useless  when  withered  and  de- 
serted ;  for  the  dormouse  usually  selects  it  as  a  ready-made 


*  Kirby  and  Spence,  Intr.  i.  425. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE  SPIDER. 


169 


roof  for  its  nest  of  dried  grass.  That  those  old  spiders'  dens 
are  not  accidentally  chosen  by  the  mouse,  appears  from  the 
fact,  that  out  of  about  a  dozen  mouse-nests  of  this  sort  found 
during  winter  in  a  copse  between  Lewisham  and  Bromley, 
Kent  (England),  every  second  or  third  one  was  furnished  with 
such  a  roof. 

The  Water  Spider. — We  extract  the  following  exqui- 
sitely beautiful  and  interesting  fact  in  nature,  connected  with 
diving  operations,  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kirby's  Bridgewater 
Treatise : — 

"  The  Water  Spider  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  upon 
whom  that  office  (diving)  is  developed  by  her  Creator.  To 
this  end,  her  instinct  instructs  her  to  fabricate  a  kind  of  diving- 
bell  in  the  bosom  of  that  element.  She  usually  selects  still 
waters  for  this  purpose.  Her  house  is  an  oval  cocoon,  filled 
with  air,  and  lined  with  silk,  from  which  threads  issue  in  every 
direction,  and  are  fastened  to  the  surrounding  plants  ;  in  this 
cocoon,  which  is  open  below,  she  watches  for  her  prey,  and  even 
appears  to  pass  the  winter,  when  she  closes  the  opening.  It  is 
most  commonly,  yet  not  always,  entirely  under  water  ;  but  its 
inhabitant  has  filled  it  with  air  for  her  respiration,  which  ena- 
bles her  to  live  in  it.  She  conveys  the  air  to  it  in  the  following 
manner :  she  usually  swims  upon  her  back,  when  her  abdomen 
is  enveloped  in  a  bubble  of  air,  and  appears  like  a  globe  of 
quicksilver* ;  with  this  she  enters  her  cocoon,  and  displacing  an 


*  Her  singular  economy  was  first,  we  believe,  described  by  Clerck  (Aranei 
Suecici,  Stockholm,  1757.)?  L.  M.  de  Lignac  (Mem.  des  Araign.  Aquat,  l2mo. 
Paris,  1799.),  and  De  Geer. 

"  The  shining  appearance,"  says  Clerck,  "  proceeds  either  from  an  inflated 
globule  surrounding  the  abdomen,  or  from  the  space  between  the  body  and  the 
water.  The  spider,  when  wishing  to  inhale  the  air,  rises  to  the  surface,  with  its 
body  still  submersed,  and  only  the  part  containing  the  spinneret  rising  just  to  the 
surface,  when  it  briskly  opens  and  moves  its  four  teats.  A  thick  coat  of  hair 
keeps  the  water  from  approaching  or  wetting  the  abdomen.  It  comes  up  for  air 
about  four  times  an  hour  or  oftener,  though  I  have  good  reason  to  suppose  it  can 
continue  without  it  for  several  days  together. 

"  I  found  in  the  middle  of  May  one  male  and  ten  females,  which  I  put  into  a 
glass  filled  with  water,  where  they  lived  together  very  quietly  for  eight  days.  I 
put  some  duck-weed  (Lcmna)  into  the  glass  to  afford  them  shelter,  and  the  fe- 

22 


170         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


equal  mass  of  water,  again  ascends  for  a  second  lading,  till 
she  has  sufficiently  filled  her  house  with  it,  so  as  to  expel  all 
the  water. 

"  The  males  construct  similar  habitations  by  the  same  ma- 
noeuvres. How  these  little  animals  can  envelope  their  abdo- 
men with  an  air-bubble,  and  retain  it  till  they  enter  their  cells, 
is  still  one  of  Nature's  mysteries  that  have  not  been  explained. 

"  We,  however,  cannot  help  admiring,  and  adoring,  the  wis- 
dom, power,  and  goodness  manifested  in  this  singular  provision, 
enabling  an  animal  that  breathes  the  atmospheric  air,  to  fill 
her  house  with  it  under  water,  and  which  has  instructed  her  in 
a  secret  art,  by  which  she  can  clothe  part  of  her  body  with  air 
as  a  garment^  and  which  she  can  put  off  when  it  answers  her 
purpose. 

"  This  is  a  kind  of  attraction  and  repulsion  which  mocks  all  our  inquiries." 

Thus  it  appears,  that  by  the  successive  descents  of  the  little 
water-spider  under  the  impulsion  of  its  instinct,  produce  effects 

males  began  to  stretch  diagonal  threads  in  a  confused  manner  from  it  to  the  sides 
of  the  glass  about  half  way  down.  Each  of  the  females  afterwards  fixed  a  close 
bag  to  the  edge  of  the  glass,  from  which  the  water  was  expelled  by  the  air  from 
the  spinneret,  and  thus  a  cell  was  formed  capable  of  containing  the  whole  animal. 
Here  they  remained  quietly,  with  their  abdomens  in  their  cells,  and  their  bodies 
still  plunged  in  the  water ;  and  in  a  short  time  brimstone-colored  bags  of  eggs  ap- 
peared in  each  cell,  filling  it  about  a  fourth  part.  On  the  7th  of  July  several 
young  ones  swam  out  from  one  of  the  bags.  All  this  time  th  e  old  ones  had  no- 
thing to  eat,  and  yet  they  never  attacked  one  another,  as  other  spiders  would  have 
been  apt  to  do  (Clerck,  Aranei  Suecici,  cap.  viii.)." 

"  These  spiders,"  says  De  Geer,  "  spin  in  the  water  a  cell  of  strong,  closely  too- 
ven,  white  silk  in  the  form  of  half  the  shell  of  a  pigeon's  egg,  or  like  a  diving  bell. 
This  is  sometimes  left  partly  above  water,  but  at  others  is  entirely  submersed,  and 
is  always  attached  to  the  objects  near  it  by  a  great  number  of  irregular  threads. 
It  is  closed  all  round,  but  has  a  large  opening  below,  which,  however,  I  found 
closed  on  the  15th  of  December,  and  the  spider  living  quietly  within,  with  her 
head  downwards.  I  made  a  rent  in  this  cell,  and  expelled  the  air,  upon  which 
the  spider  came  out ;  yet  though  she  appeared  to  have  been  laid  up  for  three 
months  in  her  winter  quarters,  she  greedily  seized  upon  an  insect  and  sucked  it. 
I  also  found  that  the  male  as  well  as  the  female  constructs  a  similar  subaqueous 
cell,  and  during  summer  no  less  than  in  winter  (De  Geer,  Mem.  des  Insectes,  vii. 
312.)."  "We  have  recently  kept  one  of  these  spiders,"  says  Mr.  Rennie,  "for 
several  months  in  a  glass  ol  water,  where  it  built  a  cell  half  under  water,  in  which 
it  laid  its  eggs." 


SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE   SPIDER.  171 


in  its  subaqueous  pavilion  equivalent  to  those  produced  in  the 
diving-bell,  or  diving  helmet,  by  the  successive  strokes  of  the 
condensing  air-pump  of  scientific  man ! 

In  the  language  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  this  insect  "  LAY- 
ETH  THE  BEAMS  OF"  her  "CHAMBERS  IN  THE 
WATERS,"  and  there  secures  her  subaqueous  chambers  in  the 
manner  described. 

Cleanliness  of  Spiders. — "When  we  look  at  the  viscid 
material,"  says  Mr.  Rennie,  "with  which  spiders  construct  their 
lines  and  webs,  and  at  the  rough,  hairy  covering  (with  a  few 
exceptions)  of  their  bodies,  we  might  conclude,  that  they  would 
be  always  stuck  over  with  fragments  of  the  minute  fibres 
which  they  produce.  This,  indeed,  must  often  happen,  did 
they  not  take  careful  precautions  to  avoid  it ;  for  we  have  ob- 
served that  they  seldom,  if  ever,  leave  a  thread  to  float  at  ran- 
dom, except  when  they  wish  to  form  a  bridge.  When  a  spider 
drops  along  a  line,  for  instance,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  strength 
of  her  web,  or  the  nature  of  the  place  below  her,  she  invari- 
ably, when  she  re-ascends,  coils  it  up  into  a  little  ball,  and 
throws  it  away.  Her  claws  are  admirably  adapted  for  this  pur- 
pose, as  well  as  for  walking  along  the  lines,  as  may  be  readily 
seen  by  a  magnifying  glass.  Fig.  13.  Plate  IV.  shows  the  tri- 
ple-clawed foot  of  a  spider,  magnified,  the  others  being  toothed 
like  a  comb,  for  gliding  along  the  lines.  This  structure,  how- 
ever, unfits  it  to  walk,  as  flies  can  do,  upon  any  upright  polish- 
ed surface  like  glass ;  although  the  contrary*  is  erroneously  as- 
serted by  the  Abbe  de  la  Pluche.  Before  she  can  do  so,  she  is 
obliged  to  construct  a  ladder  of  ropes,  as  Mr.  Blackwall  re- 
markst,  by  elevating  her  spinneret  as  high  as  she  can,  and  lay- 
ing down  a  step  upon  which  she  stands  to  form  a  second ;  and 
so  on,  as  any  one  may  try  by  placing  a  spider  at  the  bottom  of 
a  very  clean  wine  glass. 

"  The  hairs  of  the  legs,  however,  are  always  catching  bits  of 
web  and  particles  of  dust ;  but  these  are  not  suffered  to  remain 
long.  Most  people  may  have  remarked  that  the  house-fly  is 
ever  and  anon  brushing  its  feet  upon  one  another  to  rub  off  the 


*  Spectacle  de  la  Nature,  i.  58. 


f  Linn.  Trans,  vol.  xv. 


172         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

dust,  though  we  have  not  seen  it  remarked  in  authors  that  spi- 
ders are  equally  assiduous  in  keeping  themselves  clean.  They 
have,  besides,  a  very  efficient  instrument  in  their  mandibles  or 
jaws,  which,  like  their  claws,  are  furnished  with  teeth  ;  and  a 
spider  which  appears  to  a  careless  observer  as  resting  idly,  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten  will  be  found  slowly  combing  her  legs 
with  her  mandibles,  beginning  as  high  as  possible  on  the 
thigh,  and  passing  down  to  the  claws.  The  flue  which  she 
thus  combs  off  is  regularly  tossed  away. 

"  With  respect  to  the  house-spider  (A.  domestica),  we  are 
told  in  books,  that  '  she  from  time  to  time  clears  away  the  dust 
from  her  web,  and  sweeps  the  whole  by  giving  it  a  shake  with 
her  paw,  so  nicely  proportioning  the  force  of  her  blow,  that  she 
never  breaks  any  thing*.'  That  spiders  may  be  seen  shaking 
their  webs  in  this  manner,  we  readily  admit ;  though  it  is  not, 
we  imagine,  to  clear  them  of  dust,  but  to  ascertain  whether 
they  are  sufficiently  sound  and  strong. 

"  We  recently  witnessed  a  more  laborious  process  of  cleaning 
a  web  than  merely  shaking  it.  On  coming  down  the  Maine 
by  the  steam-boat  from  Frankfort,  in  August  1829,  we  observed 
the  geometric-net  of  a  conic  spider  [Epeira  conica,  Walck.) 
on  the  framework  of  the  deck,  and  as  it  was  covered  with 
flakes  of  soot  from  the  smoke  of  the  engine,  we  were  surprised 
to  see  a  spider  at  work  on  it ;  for,  in  order  to  be  useful,  this  sort 
of  net  must  be  clean.  Upon  observing  it  a  little  closely,  how- 
ever, we  perceived  that  she  was  not  constructing  a  net,  but 
dressing  up  an  old  one ;  though  not,  we  must  think,  to  save 
trouble,  so  much  as  an  expenditure  of  material.  Some  of  the 
lines  she  dexterously  stripped  of  the  flakes  of  soot  adhering  to 
them ;  but  in  the  greater  number,  finding  that  she  could  not 
get  them  sufficiently  clean,  she  broke  them  quite  off,  bundled 
them  up,  and  tossed  them  over.  We  counted  five  of  these 
packets  of  rubbish  which  she  thus  threw  away,  though  there 
must  have  been  many  more,  as  it  was  some  time  before  we  dis- 
covered the  manoeuvre,  the  packets  being  so  small  as  not  to  be 
readily  perceived,  except  when  placed  between  the  eye  and  the 


*  Spectacle  de  la  Nature,  i.  p.  61. 


Spiders,  wiifc  tjae  processes  of  flpinremcr  ,•  n i <i  Weaving1. 


SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE  SPIDER. 


173 


light.  When  she  had  cleared  off  all  the  sooted  lines,  she  began 
to  replace  them  in  the  usual  way ;  but  the  arrival  of  the  boat 
at  Mentz  put  an  end  to  our  observations."  Bloomfield,  the 
poet,  having  observed  the  disappearance  of  these  bits  of  ravelled 
web,  says  that  he  observed  a  garden  spider  moisten  the  pellets 
before  swallowing  them  !  Dr.  Lister,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
thought  the  spider  retracted  the  threads  within  the  abdomen. 

"  I  could  wish,"  says  Addison,  in  '  The  Spectator,'  "  our  Royal  Society  would 
compile  a  body  of  natural  history,  the  best  that  could  be  gathered  together  from 
books  and  observations.  If  the  several  writers  among  them  took  each  his  partic- 
ular species,  and  gave  us  a  distinct  account  of  its  original,  birth,  and  education ; 
its  policies,  hostilities,  and  alliances ;  with  the  frame  and  texture  of  its  inward  and 
outward  parts, — and  particularly  those  which  distinguish  it  from  all  other  animals, 
— with  their  aptitudes  for  the  state  of  being  in  which  Providence  has  placed  them ; 
it  would  be  one  of  the  best  services  their  studies  could  do  mankind,  and  not  a  little 
redound  to  the  glory  of  the  All-wise  Creator." — '  Spectator,'  No.  iii. 

Although  we  do  not  consider  Addison  as  a  naturalist,  in  any  of  the  usual  mean- 
ings of  the  term,  yet  it  would  be  no  easy  task,  even  for  those  who  have  devoted  their 
undivided  attention  to  the  subject,  to  improve  upon  the  admirable  plan  of  study  here 
laid  down.  It  is,  moreover,  so  especially  applicable  to  the  investigation  of  insects, 
that  it  may  be  more  or  less  put  in  practice  by  any  person  who  chooses,  in  whatever 
station  or  circumstances  he  happens  to  be  placed.  Nay,  we  will  go  farther  ;  for 
since  it  agrees  with  experience  and  many  recorded  instances  that  individuals  have 
been  enabled  to  investigate  and  elucidate  particular  facts,  who  were  quite  unacquaint- 
ed with  systematic  natural  history,  we  hold  it  to  be  undeniable,  that  any  person  of 
moderate  penetration,  though  altogether  unacquainted  with  what  is  called  "Natu- 
ral History ,"  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  observe  particular  facts  and  endeavor  to 
trace  them  to  their  causes,  has  every  chance  to  be  successful  in  adding  to  his  own 
knowledge,  and  frequently  in  making  discoveries  of  what  was  previously  unknown. 
It  is  related  of  M.  Pelissan,  while  a  prisoner  in  the  Bastille,  that  he  tamed  a  spi- 
der by  means  of  music.  This  in  conjunction  with  Evelyn's  observations  on  hunt- 
ing-spiders is  strong  proof  of  our  position,  and  show  that  though  books  are  often 
of  high  value  to  guide  us  in  our  observations,  they  are  by  no  means  indispensable 
to  the  study  of  nature,  inasmuch  as  the  varied  scene  of  creation  itself  forms  an 
inexhaustible  book,  which  "  even  he  who  runneth  may  read." 

"  It  will  be  of  the  utmost  importance,  in  the  study  here  recommended,  to  bear 
in  mind  that  an  insect  can  never  be  found  in  any  situation,  nor  make  any  move- 
ment, without  some  motive,  originating  in  the  instinct  imparted  to  it  by  Provi- 
dence. This  principle  alone,  when  it  is  made  the  basis  of  inquiry  into  such  mo- 
tives or  instincts,  will  be  found  productive  of  many  interesting  discoveries,  which, 
without  it,  might  never  be  made.  With  this,  indeed,  exclusively  in  view,  during 
an  excursion,  and  with  a  little  attention  and  perseverance,  every  walk — nay, 
every  step — may  lead  to  delightful  and  interesting  knowledge." — "  Insect  Archi- 
tecture," p.  219. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FIBRES  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINNA. 

The  Pinna — Description  of — Delicacy  of  its  threads — Reaumur's  observations — 
Mode  of  forming  the  filament  or  thread — Power  of  continually  producing  new 
threads — Experiments  to  ascertain  this  fact — The  Pinna  and  its  Cancer 
Friend — Nature  of  their  alliance — Beautiful  phenomenon — Aristotle  and  Pliny's 
account — The  Greek  poet  Oppianus's  lines  on  the  Pinna,  and  its  Cancer  friend 
— Manner  of  procuring  the  Pinna — Poli's  description — Specimens  of  the  Pinna 
in  the  British  Museum — Pearls  found  in  the  Pinna — Pliny  and  Athenaeus's  ac- 
count— Manner  of  preparing  the  fibres  of  the  Pinna  for  weaving — Scarceness  ' 
of  this  material — No  proof  that  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  the  art 
of  knitting — Tertullian  the  first  ancient  writer  who  makes  mention  of  the 
manufacture  of  cloth  from  the  fibres  of  the  Pinna — Procopius  mentions  a 
chlamys  made  of  the  fibres  of  the  Pinna,  and  a  silken  tunic  adorned  with  sprigs 
or  feathers  of  gold — Boots  of  red  leather  worn  only  by  Emperors — Golden  fleece 
of  the  Pinna — St.  Basil's  account — Fibres  of  the  Pinna  not  manufactured  into 
cloth  at  Tarentum  in  ancient  times,  but  in  India — Diving  for  the  Pinna  at  Col- 
chi — Arrian's  account. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  confined  our  remarks, 
principally,  to  the  various  attempts  made  to  obtain  a  silken  or 
filamentous  material  from  the  spider,  and  although  those  efforts 
have  not  been  crowned  with  that  degree  of  success  which  would 
render  a  speculation  of  the  kind  worthy  of  our  attention  in  a 
pecuniary  point  of  view,  yet,' it  must  be  conceded,  that  the  sub- 
ject is  scarcely  the  less  interesting ;  and  Mr.  Bon,  the  gentle- 
man who  first  undertook  the  training  of  spiders,  has  at  least 
given  us  matter  for  further  interesting  speculation.  It  is  now 
about  104  years  since  Mr.  Bon  commenced  his  experiments. 

In  this  chapter,  we  shall  proceed  to  describe  the  Pinna  of  the 
ancients,  and  upon  which  human  ingenuity  has  been  more 
successfully  exercised  in  seeking,  many  feet  below  the  surface 
of  the  Ocean,  for  the  slender  filaments,  the  produce  of  an  ani- 
mal in  almost  a  vegetative  state  of  existence. 


FIBRES,  Oil  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINNA.  175 

The  Pinna  is  a  bivalve*  shell-fish,  which,  when  full  grown, 
is  18  inches  long,  and  6  wide  at  its  broad  end.  It  is  found 
near  the  shores  of  South  Italy,  Sicily,  Corsica,  and  Sardinia ; 
also  in  the  Bay  of  Smyrna,  and  in  the  Indian  Ocean.  It  does 
not  fasten  itself  to  rocks  in  the  same  position  as  the  muscle,  but 
sticks  its  sharp  end  into  the  mud  or  sand,  while  the  rest  of  the 
shell  is  at  liberty  to  open  in  the  water.  In  common  with  the 
muscle,  it  has  the  power  of  spinning  a  viscid  matter  from  its 
body,  conformably  with  that  of  the  spider  and  caterpillar.  Al- 
though the  pinna  is  vastly  larger  than  the  muscle,  its  shell  be- 
ing sometimes  found  two  feet  long,  the  threads  which  it  produ- 
ces are  more  delicate  and  slender  than  those  of  the  muscle,  be- 
ing in  fineness  and  beauty  scarcely  inferior  to  the  single  filament 
of  the  comparatively  minute  silk-worm.  Threads  so  delicately 
thin,  as  may  readily  be  imagined,  do  not  singly  possess  much 
strength  ;  but  the  little  power  of  each  is  made  up  by  the  aggre- 
gate of  the  almost  infinite  number  which  each  fish  puts  forth 
to  secure  itself  in  a  fixed  situation,  and  preserve  it  against  the 
rolling  of  the  waves.  The  threads  are,  however,  similar  in 
their  nature  to  those  of  the  muscle,  differing  only  in  their  supe- 
rior fineness  and  greater  length.  These  fish  have,  therefore, 
been  distinguished  by  some  naturalists,  the  one  as  the  silk- 
worm, the  other  as  caterpillar  of  the  sea. 

It  has  been  from  a  very  remote  period  well  known,  that  mus- 
cles have  the  power  of  affixing  themselves  either  to  rocks  or  the 
shells  of  one  another,  in  a  very  firm  manner ;  yet  their  method 
of  effecting  this  was  not  understood  until  explained  by  the  accu- 
rate observations  of  M.  Reaumur,  the  first  naturalist  who  as- 
certained that  if,  by  any  accident,  the  animals  were  torn  from 
their  hold,  they  possessed  the  power  of  substituting  other  threads 
for  those  which  had  been  broken  or  injured.  It  was  found  by 
him,  that  if  muscles,  detached  from  each  other,  were  placed  in 
any  kind  of  vessel  and  then  plunged  into  the  sea,  they  con- 
trived in  a  very  short  time  to  fasten  themselves  both  to  the 
vessel's  side  and  one  another's  shells :  in  this  process,  the  ex- 


*  An  animal  having  two  valves,  or  a  shell  consisting  of  two  parts  which  open 
and  shut. 


176        CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

tremity  ©f  veach  thread  seemed  to  perform  the  office  of  a  hand 
in  seizing  upon  the  body  to  which  it  would  attach  itself. 

The  threads  issue  from  the  shell  at  that  part  where  it  natu- 
rally opens,  and  in  affixing  themselves  to  any  substance,  form 
numerous  minute  cables,  by  which  the  fish  steadies  itself  in  the 
water.  Each  animal  is  provided  with  an  organ,  which  it  is 
difficult  to  designate  by  any  name,  since  it  performs  the  office 
of  so  many  members,  and  is  the  only  indicator  of  the  existence 
of  vital  powers  in  the  creature.  It  is  by  turns  a  tongue,  an 
arm,  and  sometimes  a  leg.  Its  shape  resembles  that  of  a 
tongue,  and  is,  therefore,  most  frequently  called  by  that  name. 
Whenever  the  fish  requires  to  change  its  place,  this  member 
serves  to  drag  its  body  forward,  together  with  its  cumbrous  hab- 
itation :  in  performing  a  journey,  the  extremity  of  this  organ, 
which  may  then  be  styled  a  leg,  is  fixed  to  some  solid  body, 
and  being  then  contracted  in  length,  the  whole  fish  is  necessa- 
rily drawn  towards  the  spot  where  it  intends  to  station  itself ; 
and  by  a  repetition  of  these  movements,  the  animal  arrives  at 
its  destination.  It  is  not  often  that  the  organ  is  put  to  this  use, 
as  the  pinna  is  but  little  addicted  to  locomotion :  some  natural- 
ists indeed  affirm  that  it  is  always  stable.  The  purpose  to 
which  the  tongue  is  most  frequently  applied,  is  that  of  spinning 
the  threads.  Although  this  body  is  flat,  and  in  form  similar  to 
a  tongue  through  the  greater  part  of  its  length,  it  becomes  cy- 
lindrical about  the  base  or  root,  where  it  is  much  smaller  than 
in  any  other  part :  at  this  lower  end  are  several  ligatures  of  a 
muscular  nature,  which  keep  the  tongue  firmly  fixed  against 
the  middle  of  the  shell ;  four  of  these  cords  are  very  apparent, 
and  serve  to  move  the  tongue  in  any  direction  according  to  the 
wants  of  the  fish.  Through  the  entire  length  of  this  member 
there  runs  a  slit,  which  pierces  so  deeply  into  its  surface,  as  al- 
most to  divide  it  into  two  longitudinal  sections  ;  this  performs  the 
office  of  a  canal  for  the  liquor  of  which  the  threads  are  formed, 
and  serves  to  mould  them  into  their  proper  form :  the  canal  ap- 
pears externally  like  a  small  crack,  being  almost  covered  by  the 
flesh  from  either  side,  but  internally  it  is  much  wider,  and  sur- 
rounded by  circular  fibres.  The  channel  thus  formed  extends 
regularly  from  the  tip  to  the  base  of  the  tongue,  where  it  par- 


FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  T 


takes  of  the  form  of  the  member  and  becomes  ^jz^fi^^MD-^ 
ducing  there  a  tube  or  pipe  in  which  the  canal  terminaflfefcJ^G^ 
viscid  substance  is  moulded  in  this  tube  into  the  shape  of  a  cord, 
similar  to  the  threads  produced  from  it,  though  much  thicker, 
and  from  which  all  the  minute  fibres  issue  and  disperse.  The 
internal  surface  of  the  tube,  wherein  the  large  cord  is  formed,  is 
furnished  with  glands  for  the  secretion  of  the  peculiar  substance 
employed  in  its  production,  and  which  is  always  in  great  abun- 
dance in  this  animal  as  well  as  in  muscles. 

Reaumur  observed,  "  that  although  the  workmanship  of  the 
land  and  sea  animals  when  completed  is  alike,  the  manner  of 
its  production  is  very  different.  Spiders,  caterpillars,  &c,  form 
threads  of  any  required  length,  by  making  the  viscous  liquor 
of  which  the  filament  is  formed  pass  through  fine  perforations 
in  the  organ  appointed  for  spinning.  But  the  way  in  which 
muscles  form  their  thread  is  widely  opposite ;  as  the  former  re- 
sembles the  work  of  the  wire-drawer*,  so  does  the  latter  that  of 
the  founder  who  casts  metals  in  a  mould."  The  canal  of  the 
organ  destined  for  the  muscle's  spinning  is  the  mould  in  which 
its  thread  is  cast,  and  gives  to  it  its  determinate  length. 

Reaumur  learned  the  manner  of  the  muscle  performing  the 
operation  of  swimming  by  actually  placing  some  of  these  fish 
under  his  constant  inspection.  He  kept  them  in  his  apartment 
in  a  vessel  filled  with  sea  water,  and  distinctly  saw  them  open 
their  shells  and  put  forth  their  tongues.  They  extended  and 
contracted  this  organ  several  times,  obtruding  it  in  every  direc- 
tion, as  if  seeking  the  fittest  place  whereon  to  fix  their  threads. 
After  repeated  trials  of  this  kind,  the  tongue  of  one  was  ob- 
served to  remain  for  some  time  on  the  spot  chosen,  and  being 
then  drawn  back  with  great  quickness,  a  thread  was  very 


*  This  remark  of  M.  Reaumur  confirms  the  observations  of  M.  H.  Straus,  quoted 
in  Chapter  VII.  that  the  thread  of  the  silk-worm  is  not  produced  by  a  simple  emis- 
sion of  liquid  matter  through  the  orifices  of  the  spinner,  or  that  it  acquires  solidity 
at  once  from  the  drying  influence  of  the  air.  Indeed,  silk  cannot  be  produced  in 
this  manner,  but  is  secreted  in  the  form  of  silk  in  silk  vessels,  and  the  spinning 
apparatus,  so  called,  only  unwinds  it.  Mr.  Straus's  observations  on  this  head  ad- 
mit of  no  argument.  The  discovery  reduces  all  that  has  been  heretofore  written 
upon  the  subject  to  the  character  of  old  lumber. 

23 


178         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

easily  discerned,  fastened  to  the  place  :  this  operation  was  again 
resumed,  until  all  the  threads  were  in  sufficient  number :  one 
fibre  being  produced  at  each  movement  of  the  tongue. 

The  old  threads  were  found  to  differ  materially  from  those 
newly  spun,  the  latter  being  whiter,  more  glossy,  and  transpa- 
rent than  the  former,  and  it  was  thence  discovered  that  it  was 
not  the  office  of  the  tongue  to  transfer  the  old  threads  one  by 
one  to  the  new  spots  where  they  were  fixed,  which  course  M. 
Reaumur  had  thought  was  pursued.  The  old  threads  once 
severed  from  the  spot  to  which  they  had  been  originally  fixed 
were  seen  to  be  useless,  and  that  every  fibre  employed  by  the 
fish  to  secure  itself  in  a  new  position  was  produced  at  the  time 
required ;  and,  in  short,  that  nature  had  endowed  some  fish,  as 
well  as  land  insects,  with  the  power  of  spinning  threads,  as 
their  natural  wants  and  instincts  demanded.  This  fact  was  in- 
controvertibly  established  by  cutting  away,  as  close  to  the  body 
as  they  could  with  safety  be  separated,  the  old  threads,  which 
were  always  replaced  by  others  in  a  space  of  time  as  short  as 
was  employed  by  other  muscles  not  so  deprived. 

"  The  pinna  and  its  cancer  friend"  have  on  more  than  one 
occasion  been  made  subjects  for  poetry.  There  is  doubtless 
some  foundation  for  the  fact  of  the  mutual  alliance  between 
these  aquatic  friends  which  has  been  thus  celebrated ;  yet  some 
slight  coloring  may  have  been  borrowed  from  the  regions  of 
fancy  wherewith  to  adorn  the  verse,  and  even  the  prose  history 
of  their  attachment  may  be  exposed  to  a  similar  objection. 

The  scuttle-fish,  a  native  of  the  same  seas  with  the  pinna,  is 
its  deadly  foe,  and  would  quickly  destroy  it,  were  it  not  for  its 
faithful  ally.  In  common  with  all  the  same  species,  the  pinna  is 
destitute  of  the  organs  of  sight,  and  could  not,  therefore,  unas- 
sisted, be  aware  of  the  vicinity  of  its  dangerous  enemy.  A 
small  animal  of  the  crab  kind,  itself  deprived  of  a  covering,  but 
extremely  quick-sighted,  takes  refuge  in  the  shell  of  the  pinna, 
whose  strong  calcareous  valves  affords  a  shelter  to  her  guest, 
while  he  makes  a  return  for  this  protection  by  going  forth  in 
search  of  prey.  At  these  intervals  the  pinna  opens  her  valves 
to  afford  him  egress  and  ingress :  if  the  watchful  scuttle-fish 
now  approach,  the  crab  returns  instanter  with  notice  of  the 


FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINNA.  179 

danger  to  her  hostess  ;  who,  timely  warned,  shuts  her  door  and 
keeps  out  the  enemy.  When  the  crab  has,  unmolested,  suc- 
ceeded in  loading  itself  with  provisions,  it  gives  a  signal  by  a 
gentle  noise  at  the  opening  of  the  shelly  and  when  admitted, 
the  two  friends  feast  together  on  the  fruit  of  its  industry.  It 
would  appear  an  arduous,  nay,  a  task  almost  impossible  for  the 
defenceless  and  diminutive  crab,  not  merely  to  elude  its  enemies 
and  return  home,  but  likewise  obtain  a  supply  of  provender 
sufficient  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  its  larger  companion.  The 
following  different  account  of  the  nature  of  this  alliance  is  more 
credible : — 

Whenever  the  pinna  ventures  to  open  its  shell,  it  is  immedi- 
ately exposed  to  the  attacks  of  various  of  the  smaller  kinds  of 
fish,  which,  meeting  with  no  resistance  to  their  first  assaults, 
acquire  boldness  and  venture  in.  The  vigilant  guard,  by  a 
gentle  bite,  gives  notice  of  this  to  his  companion,  who,  upon 
such  a  hint,  closes  her  shell,  and  having  thus  shut  them  in 
makes  a  prey  of  those  who  had  come  to  prey  upon  her :  when 
thus  supplied  with  food,  she  never  fails  to  share  her  booty  with 
so  useful  an  ally. 

We  are  told  that  the  sagacious  observer,  Dr.  Hasselquist,  in 
his  voyage,  (about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,)  to  Palestine, 
which  he  undertook  for  objects  connected  with  the  study  of  nat- 
ural history,  beheld  this  curious  phenomenon,  which,  although 
well  known  to  the  ancients,  had  escaped  the  attention  of  the 
moderns. 

It  is  related  by  Aristotle*  that  the  pinna  keeps  a  guard  to 
watch  for  her,  which  grows  to  her  mouth,  and  serves  as  her 
caterer :  this  he  calls  pinnophylax,  and  describes  as  a  little  fish 
with  claws  like  a  crab.  Pliny  observest,  that  the  smallest  spe- 
cies of  crab  is  called  the  pinnotores,  and  being  from  its  diminu- 
tive size  liable  to  injury,  has  the  prudence  to  conceal  itself  in 
the  shells  of  oysters.  In  another  place  he  describes  the  pinna 
as  of  the  genus  of  shell-fish,  with  the  further  particulars  that 
it  is  found  in  muddy  waters,  always  erect,  and  never  without  a 
companion,  called  by  some  pinnatores,  by  others  pinnophylax ; 


*  Hist.  lib.  v.  c.  15.  t  Lib.  ix.  51.  66. 


189        CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK, 

this  being  sometimes  a  small  squill,  and  at  others  a  crab,  which 
remains  with  the  pinna  for  the  sake  of  food. 

The  description  of  the  pinna  by  the  Greek  poet  Oppianus, 
who  flourished  in  the  second  century,  has  been  thus  given  in 
English  verse : — 

The  pinna  and  the  crab  together  dwell, 

For  mutual  succor  in  one  common  shell ; 

They  both  to  gain  a  livelihood  combine, 

That  takes  the  prey,  when  this  has  given  the  sign ; 

From  hence  this  crab,  above  his  fellows  famed, 

By  ancient  Greeks  was  Pinnotores  named. 

It  is  said  that  the  pinna  fastens  itself  so  strongly  to  the  rocks, 
that  the  men  employed  in  fishing  for  it  are  obliged  to  use  con- 
siderable force  to  break  the  tuft  of  threads  by  which  it  is  secu- 
red fifteen,  twenty,  and  sometimes  even  thirty  feet  below  the 
surface  of  the  sea. 

It  is  fished  up  in  the  Gulf  of  Tarentum  by  the  Pernonico, 
which  consists  of  two  semicircular  bars  of  iron  fastened  together 
at  the  ends,  at  one  of  which  is  a  wooden  pole,  at  the  other  a 
ring  and  cord.  The  fishermen  conduct  their  boat  over  the 
place,  where  the  pinna  is  seen  through  the  clear  water,  let 
down  the  Pernonico,  and,  having  loosened  the  pinna  by  em- 
bracing it  with  the  iron  bars  and  twisting  it  round,  draw  it  up 
to  the  boat.  The  pinna  is  also  obtained  by  diving.  Poli,  in 
his  splendid  work  on  the  Sicilian  Testacea  (Parma,  1795, 
folio,)  gives  beautiful  representations  of  the  several  species  and 
especially  of  the  Pinna  Nobilis*.  The  following  description  of 
submarine  scenery  and  operations,  is  so  vivid  and  pleasing  that 
we  quote  it  at  length. 

Pinnis  hujusmodi  abundant  prae  caeteris  litus  Trinacriae,  sinus  Tarentinus, 
oraque  maritima  Crateris  Neapolitani,  potissimum  ultra  Promontorium  Pausilypi. 
Equidem  persumma  adficimur  animi  jucunditate,  quoties  illarum  piscationis  recor- 
damur,  quam  vere  jam  inchoato  inibi  facere  iterum  iterumque  consuevimus.  Est 
ad  Insulam  Nisitae,  qua  ilia  ad  septentrionem  vergit,  respicitque  contra  Pausilypi 
Promontorium,  amcenissimi  maris  plaga,  quoddam  maris  ocium.  Ibi  inter  in- 
gentes,  pulcherrimosque  marinarum  stirpium  saltus,  quibus  plaga  ilia  undique 
virescit,  oculosque  animumque  recreat,  Pinnarum  greges  sponte  gignuntur ;  quae 


*  The  figure  (Fig.  7.)  of  the  Pinna  Nobilis,  Plate  III.,  is  reduced  from  Plate 
XXXIV.  in  vol.  ii. 


FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE   PINNA.  181 


mari  tranquillo,  umbrisque  ab  insulae  suramitate  cadentibus,  ab  iis  qui  cymbis  in- 
sistent, ad  triginta  ferme  pedum  altitudinem,  subrectae,  inque  fundo  arenoso  defixas 
perspicue  cerni  possunt.  Urinatores  igitur,  sese  mari  submergentes,  illis  arripien- 
dis  destinantur.  Quoniam  vero,  ne  reiteratis  quidem  ictibus,  ab  arena,  ubi  con- 
sitae  sunt,  educi  queunt ;  arena  etenim,  et  pondere  suo  et  altissima  aquarum  mole 
sibi  incumbente  fortiter  stipata,  urinatorum  conatibus  valide  resistit ;  hi  maris  fun- 
dum  nacti,  ibique  veluti  in  solo  sedentes,  arenam  Pinnae  circumjectam  manibus 
averrunt,  Pinnamque  deinceps  ambabus  manibus  comprehensam  divellere  conan- 
tur.  Et  si  diutius,  quam  par  est,  spiritum  cohibere  nequeunt,  ad  summa  aequorum 
ascendunt,  suberibusque  aquas  innatantibus  inibi  de  industria  positis  innituntur, 
donee  tandem  aeris  haustu  recreati,  maris  fundum  iterum  petant,  operamque  pe- 
nitus  absolvant.  v.  ii.  p.  230,  231. 

This  species  of  Pinna  is  especially  abundant  on  the  shores  of  Sicily,  in  the 
Gulf  of  Taranto,  and  in  the  Bay  of  Naples,  particularly  beyond  the  Cape  of  Po- 
silipo.  It  always  fills  my  mind  with  the  greatest  delight  to  recollect  the  manner 
of  fishing  for  it,  in  which  I  have  often  taken  a  part  at  that  spot  in  the  com- 
mencement of  spring.  On  the  northern  shore  of  the  Isle  of  Nisida  opposite  Po- 
silipo,  is  a  most  agreeable  expanse  of  water,  where  the  sea  appears  to  be  ever  at 
rest.  Here,  amidst  those  vast  and  most  beauteous  submarine  forests,  with  which 
the  coast  is  decorated  in  every  direction  so  as  at  once  to  charm  the  mind  and  re- 
fresh the  eye,  the  Pinna  grows  spontaneously  in  large  groups,  and  in  calm  water, 
when  the  shadows  fall  from  the  summit  of  the  island,  is  clearly  seen  by  persons 
in  boats  growing  nearly  upright  and  fixed  in  the  sandy  bottom  at  the  depth  of 
about  thirty  feet.  There  are  divers,  whose  business  it  is  to  bring  it  up.  But, 
since  it  cannot  be  loosened  even  by  repeated  blows,  (for  the  sand  firmly  resists 
the  attempts  of  the  diver,  being  supported  by  its  own  weight  and  by  the  super- 
incumbent water,)  in  these  circumstances  he  sits  down  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
brushes  away  with  his  fingers  the  earth  which  encompasses  the  shell,  and  then 
endeavors  to  pull  it  up  by  seizing  it  with  both  hands.  If  he  is  thus  likely  to  be 
detained  at  the  bottom  for  a  longer  time  than  he  can  hold  his  breath,  he  ascends 
to  the  surface,  supports  himself  upon  corks,  which  are  in  readiness  for  him,  and, 
when  he  has  sufficiently  recovered  himself  by  breathing,  he  again  dives  to  the 
bottom  to  complete  his  task. 

The  specimens  of  Pinna  in  the  British  Museum  show  not 
only  the  tuft,  but  also  the  pearls  and  the  mother  of  pearl.  Poli 
found  in  one  specimen  of  the  Pinna  Nobilis  no  less  than  twen- 
ty pearls,  of  which  he  has  given  figures  in  his  splendid  work. 
Pliny  (1.  ix.  c.  35.)  mentions  the  practice  of  diving  for  the  Pin- 
na in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  in  order  to  obtain  pearls  from  it : 
and  Atbenseus  (1.  iii.  p.  93  Casaub.)  has  preserved  extracts  from 
two  historical  writers,  one  of  whom  accompanied  Alexander  on 
his  Indian  expedition,  and  who  informs  us,  that  the  Pinna  was 
procured  in  the  Indian  seas,  by  diving  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
pearls. 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


The  Italians  call  the  fibres  Lana  Pesce  or  Lana  Penna{ 
i.  e.  Fish  Wool,  or  Pinna  Wool.  It  is  not  equally  good  in  all 
places.  When  the  bottom  of  the  sea  is  sandy,  the  shell  with 
its  bunch  of  fibres  may  be  easily  extracted,  and  they  are  silky 
and  of  a  fine  color.  But  in  rushy  and  muddy  bottoms  so  fast 
do  they  stick  as  to  be  generally  broken  in  drawing  up,  and  are 
of  a  blackish  color  without  gloss. 

The  Lana  Penna  is  twice  washed  in  tepid  water,  once  in 
soap  and  water,  and  again  in  tepid  water,  then  spread  on  a  ta- 
ble to  dry :  while  yet  moist,  it  is  rubbed  and  separated  with  the 
hand,  and  again  spread  on  the  table.  When  quite  dry,  it  is 
drawn  through  a  wide  comb  of  bone,  and  then  through  a  nar- 
row one.  That  which  is  destined  for  very  fine  works  is  also 
drawn  through  iron  combs,  called  scarde  [cards).  It  is  then 
spun  with  a  distaff  and  spindle. 

As  it  is  impossible  to  procure  much  of  this  material  of  a 
good  quality,  the  manufacture  is  very  limited,  and  the  articles 
produced,  stockings  and  gloves,  are  expensive.  They  are  es- 
teemed excellent  preservatives  against  cold  and  damp,  are  soft 
and  very  warm,  and  the  finest  of  a  brown  cinnamon,  or  glossy 
gold  color.  The  manufacture  is  chiefly  carried  on  at  Taranto, 
the  ancient  Tarentnm*. 

The  Lana  Penna,  having  been  spun,  is  now  almost  uni- 
versally knit.  But,  as  it  does  not  appear  that  the  ancients 
were  acquainted  with  this  process  prior  to  the  second  century ; 
whatever  garments  they  made  of  this  material  must  have  been 
woven. 

The  first  proof  we  possess  of  its  use  among  them  is  in  Ter 
tullian,  who  lived  in  the  second  century  [De  Pallio,  iii.  p. 
115,  Rigaltii).  Speaking  of  the  materials  for  weaving,  he 
says, 

Nec  fuit  satis  tunicam  pangere  et  serere,  ni  etiam  piscari  vestitum  contigisset 
nam  et  de  mari  vellera,  quo  mucosae  lanusitatis  plautiores  conchae  comant. 

Nor  was  it  enough  to  comb  and  to  sow  the  materials  for  a  tunic.    It  was  ne- 


*  Riedesel's  Travels  through  Sicily  and  Graecia  Magna,  translated  by  J.  R 
Forster,  London,  1773,  p.  178-180.  De  Salis,  Travels  in  the  Kingdom  of  Na- 
ples. Keppel  Craven,  Tour  through  the  Southern  Provinces  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Naples,  p.  185.    D'Argenville,  Lithol.  et  Conchologie,  p.  183,  and  Plate  25. 


FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL   OF  THE   PINNA.  183 


cessary  also  to  fish  for  one's  dress.  For  fleeces  are  obtained  from  the  sea,  where 
shells  of  extraordinary  size  are  furnished  with  tufts  of  mossy  hair*.  (See  Fig.  7, 
Plate  II.) 

Procopius  informs  us  (De  Edif.  lib.  iii.  c.  1.),  that  Armenia 
was  governed  by  five  hereditary  satraps,  who  received  their 
insignia  from  the  Roman  Emperor.  Among  these  was  a 
Chlamys  made  of  the  fibres  of  the  Pinna.    (XAa^?    i$  spfav 

TrtTtouiu'evr})  ov%  oia  rdv  7:po0ar  tcov  Iktzs^vkcv^  dXX'  Ik  OaXaaaris  cvveiXeyfiEvW  irivvovs  ra 
£a5a  kolXuv  vsvo/xiKaat,  h  ols  f]  rdv  ipiuv  extpvais  y'lverai.}      This  chlamys  Was 

fastened  with  a  fibula  of  gold,  in  which  a  precious  stone  was 
set,  and  three  hyacinths  were  suspended  from  it  by  golden 
chains  (x?vaaXs re  Kal  xa*aPaTs  d\vae<nv.)  The  chlamys  was  accom- 
panied by  a  silken  tunic,  adorned  with  sprigs  or  "feathers"  of 
gold.    It  is  thus  described : 

Xtra)f  €K  jjeT&£ng9  lyKaWoiTTLajxaci  ^pvcrots  TravTaj^Qtv  copata^ievog,  a  6i)  vevo^iiKaat 
frXovfx^ia  kuXclv. 

With  the  chlamys  and  tunic  were  worn  boots  of  red  leather, 
such  as  only  the  emperors  of  Rome  and  Persia  were  allowed  to 
wear. 

St.  Basil  mentions  with  admiration  "  the  golden  fleece  "  of 
the  Pinna,  which  no  artificial  dye  could  imitate.    Uodev  rd  xp^ow 

spiov  at  iripvat  rpifpovaiv,  onsp  oicels  riov  dvQnfl&ipoJv  i[i.in^aaTO. — Hexaem.  vii. 

Whether  the  tuft  of  the  Pinna  was  used  for  weaving  before 
the  time  of  the  authors,  who  have  now  been  cited,  seems 
doubtful.  As  the  Pinna  is  frequently  mentioned  by  earlier 
writers,  both  Greek  and  Latint,  but  without  any  reference  to 
the  use  of  its  tuft,  it  may  be  regarded  as  probable,  that  this 
kind  of  cloth  was  not  invented  before  the  time  of  Tertullian. 

It  is  a  no  less  curious  question,  Whence  did  the  ancients  ob- 
tain the  fibres  of  the  Pinna,  and  where  was  the  manufacture 
of  them  carried  on  ? 


*  In  this  passage  piscari  is  rather  fancifully  opposed  to  pangere  and  serere. 
The  former  of  these  two  terms  (pangere)  refers  to  tunics  of  wool,  which  was  pac- 
ta or  pexa ;  the  latter  to  tunics  of  cotton  and  flax,  which  were  sata.  The  epithet 
plautiores,  (etymologically  allied  to  latiores,  and  to  irXarvs,)  well  describes  the 
large  size  and  expanded  form  of  the  Pinna. 

t  The  passages  are  collected  in  Stephani  Thesaurus  L.  GraecoB,  ed.  Valpy, 
p  7579. 


I 


184         CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

It  has  been  commonly  said  at  Tarentum,  but  apparently 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  the  Pinna  is  obtained  and  the 
manufacture  principally  carried  on  at  Taranto  in  modern 
times.  By  referring  to  the  authorities  above  quoted,  it  will  be 
seen  that  none  of  them  makes  any  allusion  to  Tarentum. 
Consequently  we  have  no  direct  evidence,  that  this  was  the 
seat  of  the  ancient  manufacture.  On  the  contrary,  we  have 
testimony,  that  fine  cloths  of  this  substance  were  made  in 
India,  and  thence  imported  into  Greece  and  other  countries. 

The  author  of  the  Periplus  of  the  Erythrean  Sea,  a  docu- 
ment of  an  age  at  least  as  late  as  the  time  of  Tertullian,  states 
that  the  business  of  diving  for  the  wool  of  the  Pinna  was  pros- 
ecuted near  the  city  called  Colchi  in  the  south  of  India.  Dif- 
ferent species  of  Pinna  with  tufts  of  fine  silk  are  now  no  less 
abundant  in  the  Indian  than  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The 
Periplus  of  the  Erythrean  Sea  presents  a  sufficient  proof,  that 
this  beautiful  substance  was  spun  and  woven  by  the  Indians, 
whereas  we  can  only  suppose  from  analogy  that  the  manufac- 
ture was  carried  on  in  ancient  times  by  the  Tarentines. 


CHAPTER  XI 


FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINE-APPLE. 

Fibres  of  the  Pine  Apple — Facility  of  dyeing — Manner  of  preparing  the  fibres  for 
weaving — Easy  cultivation  of  the  plant — Thrives  where  no  other  plant  will 
live — Mr.  Frederick  Burt  Zincke's  patent  process  of  manufacturing  cloth  from 
the  fibres  of  this  plant — Its  comparative  want  of  strength — Silken  material  pro- 
cured from  the  Papyfera — Spun  and  woven  into  cloth — Cloth  of  this  description 
manufactured  generally  by  the  Otaheiteans,  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  South 
Sea  Islands — Great  strength  (supposed)  of  ropes  made  from  the  fibres  of  the 
aloe — Exaggerated  statements. 

This  plant,  which  has  hitherto  been  valued  solely  as  min- 
istering to  the  luxuries  of  the  table,  has  lately  had  a  new  in- 
terest attached  to  it  from  the  discovery  of  a  fibre  contained  in 
its  leaves,  possessing  such  valuable  properties,  that  it  will,  in 
all  probability,  soon  form  a  new  and  important  article  of  com- 
merce. 

The  fibres  of  the  pine-apple  plant  are  disposed  in  fasciculi, 
each  apparent  fibre  being  an  assemblage  of  fibres  adhering  to- 
gether, of  such  exceeding  delicacy,  as  only  to  measure  from 
g-^nrth  to  jj-0—  th  part  of  an  inch  in  diameter ;  viewed  under  the 
microscope,  they  bear  considerable  resemblance  to  silk,  from 
their  glossy,  even,  and  smooth  texture.  They  appear  altogether 
destitute  of  joints,  or  other  irregularities,  and  are  remarkably 
transparent,  particularly  when  viewed  in  water :  they  are  very 
elastic,  of  considerable  strength,  and  readily  receive  the  most 
delicate  dyes.  This  last  fact  appears  singular,  when  we  bear 
in  mind  the  resistance,  if  we  may  be  allowed  the  expression, 
which  flax  offers,  to  dyes.  With  much  trouble,  and  by  long 
processes,  flax  will  receive  a  few  dark  dingy  colors  :  all  light 
and  brilliant  ones  it  wholly  resists  ;  they  do  not  enter  the  fibre, 
but  merely  dry  upon  it  externally,  and  afterwards  easily  peel, 
or  rub  off,* — in  short,  it  may  be  said  to  be  painted^  and  not 
dyed. 

The  preparation  of  the  pine-fibre  is  exceedingly  simple.  If 

24 


186  FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINE  APPLE. 

a  leaf  of  this  plant  be  examined,  it  will  be  found  to  consist  of 
an  assemblage  of  fibres  running  parallel  from  one  extremity  of 
the  leaf  to  the  other,  embedded  in  the  soft  pabulum.  All  the 
process  necessary  is  to  pass  the  leaf  under  a  "  tilt  hammer,"  the 
rapid  action  of  which,  in  a  few  seconds,  completely  crushes  it, 
without  in  the  slightest  degree  injuring  the  fibre,  which  re- 
mains in  a  large  skein,  and  then  requires  to  be  rinsed  out  in 
soft  water,  to  cleanse  it  from  impurities,  and  be  afterwards  dried 
in  the  shade.  So  simple  and  rapid  is  the  process,  that  a  leaf,  in 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  being  cut  from  the  plant,  may  be  in 
a  state  fit  for  the  purposes  of  the  manufacturer,  as  a  glossy, 
white  fibre,  with  its  strength  unimpaired  by  any  process  of  ma- 
ceration, which,  by  inducing  partial  putrefaction,  not  only  ma- 
terially injures  the  strength  of  flax,  but  also  renders  it  of  a 
dingy  color. 

The  pine-plant  abounds  both  in  the  East  and  West  Indies, 
and  may  be  easily  propagated  from  the  crown  ;  offsetts  from 
round  the  base  of  the  fruit,  which  often  amount  to  upwards  of 
twenty  in  number ;  and  from  the  young  plants  which  spring 
from  the  parent  stem ;  its  cultivation  requires  but  little  care  or 
expense,  and  is  of  such  hardy  growth,  as  to  be  almost  indepen- 
dent of  those  casualties  of  weather,  which  often  prove  so  detri- 
mental to  more  delicate  crops — it  is  one  of  those  plants  which 
Nature  has  scattered  so  profusely  through  tropical  regions, 
whose  leaves  are  thick  and  fleshy,  to  contain  a  large  supply  of 
nourishment,  and  covered  by  a  thick,  glazed  cuticle ;  admitting 
of  so  little  evaporation,  that  many  of  them  will  thrive  upon  a 
barren  rock,  where  no  other  plant  would  live.  Also  from  the 
large  portion  of  oxalic  acid  which  the  leaves  contain,  no  animal 
will  touch  them,  and  are,  therefore,  exempt  from  the  trespasses 
of  cattle,  &c.  Indeed  no  greater  proof  of  the  hardiness  of  the 
plant  can  be  given,  than  the  fact,  that  in  many  places  where 
lands  have  been  under  tillage, — afterwards  abandoned,  and  al- 
lowed to  return  to  a  state  of  nature,  the  pine-apple  plant  ex- 
hibits the  only  trace  of  former  cultivation  ;  every  other  cultiva- 
ted plant  has  died  away  before  the  encroachments  of  the  sur- 
rounding wood,  while  they  alone  remained  increasing  from  year 
to  year,  and  spread  into  large  beds. 


FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINE  APPLE.  187 

Mr.  Frederick  Burt  Zincke  obtained  a  patent  in  England, 
bearing  date  December  9,  1836,  for  the  following  mode  of  pre- 
paring the  filaments  of  this  plant,  the  £< Bromelia  ananas" 
We  give  the  patentee's  own  description  (with  slight  emenda- 
tions), as  received  from  the  patent  office,  London,  and  which  is 
as  follows. 

"  I  (the  said  Frederick  Burt  Zincke)  do  hereby  declare  that 
the  nature  of  my  said  invention  consists — Firstly,  in  preparing 
or  manufacturing  the  leaf  of  the  plant,  commonly  called  the 
pine-apple,  by  bruising,  beating,  washing,  and  drying  the  same, 
in  such  manner  as  to  separate  the  long  fibrous  parts  from  the 
cuticle  pabulum,  and  other  matter  comprising  the  said  leaf. 
Secondly,  in  the  application  of  the  fibrous  substance,  so  prepa- 
red to  various  manufactures  and  purposes,  for  which  silk,  flax, 
cotton,  hemp,  wool,  and  other  fibrous  materials  are  now  used. 
And  further,  I  describe  the  manner  in  which  my  said  invention 
is  to  be  performed  by  the  following  statement :  For  the  purpose 
of  preparing  the  fibre,  I  cut  the  leaves  from  the  pine-apple  plant, 
at  any  period  from  the  time  of  their  obtaining  their  full  growth, 
till  the  ripening  of  the  fruit,  for  I  find  that  if  the  leaves  are 
taken  before  they  are  full  grown,  the  fibre  is  less  strong,  and  if 
suffered  to  remain  on  the  plant,  after  the  ripening  of  the  fruit, 
the  fibre  becomes  harsh,  and  is  more  difficult  to  divest  of  the 
extraneous  matter.  The  small  thorns  having  been  trimmed 
from  the  edge  of  the  leaves,  with  a  sharp  knife,  the  leaves 
should  be  crushed,  so  as  to  disengage  the  fibre  from  the  other 
matter  composing  the  leaf,  for  which  purpose  the  employment 
of  a  mallet  upon  a  block  of  wood,  will  fully  answer  the  intend- 
ed purpose.  This  process  of  crushing  is  to  be  continued  until 
the  fibre  appears  in  an  assemblage  of  long  silky  filaments, 
with  more  or  less  of  the  pulpy  and  other  matter  of  the  leaf  ad- 
hering to  them ;  to  cleanse  them  from  which  they  are  to  be 
well  rinsed  in  soft  water,  immediately  after  having  been 
crushed  or  beaten,  and  then  the  water  should  forthwith  be 
squeezed  out  of  them,  by  drawing  them  between  the  edges  of 
two  pieces  of  wood,  placed  parallel  to  each  other,  so  as  to  admit 
of  the  fibres  being  drawn  out  rather  lightly  between  them,  for 
if  the  green  matter  is  allowed  to  dry  on  the  fibre,  it  of  course 


188  FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINE  APPLx.. 

becomes  more  difficult  to  cleanse.  The  washing  must  be  care- 
fully performed,  so  as  to  prevent  the  fibre  from  becoming  tangled 
or  knotted.  The  operation  of  washing  or  rinsing  must  be  re- 
peated until  the  fibre  be  thoroughly  cleansed.  If  it  be  found 
difficult  to  clean  the  fibre  from  the  extraneous  matter,  in  conse- 
quence of  not  collecting  the  leaves  from  the  plant  sufficiently 
early,  or  from  any  other  cause,  the  operation  will  be  facilitated 
by  boiling  the  fibre,  after  it  has  been  beaten,  and  partially  pu- 
rified in  a  solution  of  soap  in  soft  water.  For  this  purpose  the 
fibre  must  be  regularly  disposed  in  any  suitable  vessel,  so  as  to 
prevent  its  becoming  tangled,  with  sufficient  water  to  cover  it, 
in  which  soap  has  been  dissolved,  in  the  proportion  of  about 
5  lbs.  to  50  lbs.  of  fibre,  a  light  weight  being  then  placed  upon  it, 
to  keep  the  fibre  beneath  the  surface  of  the  liquor  ;  the  whole 
is  then  to  be  boiled  for  the  space  of  three  or  four  hours,  and  af- 
ter boiling,  to  be  well  rinsed  out  in  soft  water,  and  squeezed  as 
before  directed.  The  fibre  having  been  cleansed  by  these  pro- 
cesses, is  to  be  gradually  dried  in  the  shade,  and  occasionally 
shaken  out,  so  as  to  prevent  the  too  close  adhesion  of  the  fila- 
ment in  drying,  which  would  otherwise  take  place.  The  fibre 
may  be  obtained  free  from  the  extraneous  matter  of  the  leaf 
by  other  modes  ;  but  I  prefer  that  which  I  have  above  described. 
As  to  the  second  part  of  my  said  invention,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  observe  that  from  the  superiority  of  this  fibre  in  several  re- 
spects over  those  now  in  common  use  (?),  it  is  adapted  to  a 
vast  number  of  purposes,  in  which  fibrous  materials  are  now 
employed ;  it  is  of  a  glossy  white  color,  it  receives  dyes  with  fa- 
cility, it  possesses  great  strength,  and  is  divisible  to  an  exceed- 
ing degree  of  fineness,  for  upon  examination  each  filament 
that  appears  a  single  fibre,  is,  in  fact,  a  bundle  of  very  delicate 
fibres,  adhering  more  or  less  strongly  together.  These  qualities 
render  it  applicable  to  the  manufacture  of  shawls,  drills,  dam- 
ask-linens,  plushes,  carpets,  rugs,  lace,  bonnets,  paper  ;  as  a 
material  for  rope,  twine,  or  thread,  and  a  variety  of  other  pur- 
poses to  which  silk,  cotton,  flax  hemp,  wool,  and  other  fibrous 
materials  are  now  applied.  As  a  material  for  spinning  in  the 
ordinary  method  in  which  flax  is  now  spun  through  hot  water, 
this  fibre  requires  to  undergo  the  process  generally  in  use  for 


FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OF  THE  PINE  APPLE.  189 

bleaching  flax.  I  find  the  period  at  which  the  bleaching  can 
be  most  conveniently  performed,  is  when  the  fibre  is  in  the 
state  called  technically  "  a  roving  f  for  the  coarser  yarns  the 
first  stages  of  the  bleaching  process  will  be  sufficient,  but  this 
operation  must  be  carried  further,  in  proportion  to  the  fineness 
of  the  yarn  intended  to  be  spun.  The  effect  of  the  bleaching 
upon  the  fibre  is,  to  disengage  part  of  the  adhesive  matter, 
which  connects  the  fine  filaments  together,  and  render  the 
yam  susceptible  of  longation,  between  the  receiving  and  de- 
livering rollers  in  spinning,  after  it  has  passed  through  the  hot 
water ;  I  therefore  claim  as  my  invention,  the  preparing  and 
manufacturing  into  the  fibres  hereinbefore  particularly  described ; 
the  leaf  of  the  plant  commonly  called  the  pine-apple,  by  any 
mode  or  modes  of  preparation,  and  also  the  application  of  the 
said  fibres,  when  prepared  and  manufactured,  to  the  several 
purposes  hereinbefore  also  particularly  specified,  the  same  being 
to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  (information,  remembrance,  and 
belief),  now  and  not  heretofore  practised." 

M.  de  la  Rouverie  affirms,  that  he  procured  a  beautiful  veg- 
etable silk  from  the  Papyfera  or  paper  mulberry ;  cutting  the 
bark  while  the  tree  was  in  sap,  beating  it  with  mallets,  and 
steeping  it  in  water ;  he  obtained  a  thread  from  the  fibres,  al- 
most equal  to  silk  in  quality ;  and  this  was  woven  into  a  cloth 
the  texture  of  which  appeared  as  if  formed  of  that  material. 
The  finest  sort  of  cloth  among  the  inhabitants  of  Otaheite,  and 
other  of  the  South  Sea  Islands,  is  made  of  the  bark  of  this 
tree. 

According  to  M.  Chevremont,  Engineer  of  Mines,  "  ropes 
made  of  aloes  have/owr  times  the  resistance  of  those  of  hemp 
of  the  same  diameter,  and  made  by  the  same  process(?).  The 
fibres  of  the  aloe  contain  a  resinous  substance  which  protects 
the  ropes  from  the  action  of  moisture :  even  at  sea,  and  renders 
the  tarring  of  them  unnecessary.  They  are  lighter  than  hemp- 
en ropes,  and  lose  nothing  of  their  strength  by  being  wet(?). 
When  plunged  into  water,  they  are  shortened  only  two  per 
cent.,  so  that  they  become  less  rigid  than  ropes  made  of 
hemp(?)." 

There  appears  to  be  a  good  deal  of  exaggeration  in  regard 


190  FIBRES,  OR  SILKEN  MATERIAL  OP  THE  PINE  APPLE. 

to  the  great  superiority  of  the  fibres  of  these  plants  over  cotton, 
flax,  &c.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  regard  to  Mr.  Zincke, 
for  although  he  succeeded  in  producing  some  very  beautiful 
specimens  of  fabric,  in  conformity  with  the  foregoing  specifica- 
tion, yet,  the  manufacture  does  not  appear  to  make  much  prog- 
ress, chiefly  on  account  of  the  inferiority  in  point  of  strength 
of  the  cloth,  more  especially  when  bleached. 


CHAPTER  XII, 

MALLOWS. 


CULTIVATION  AND  USE  OF  THE  MALLOW  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS.  

TESTIMONY  OF  LATIN,  GREEK,  AND  ATTIC  WRITERS. 

The  earliest  mention  of  Mallows  is  to  be  found  in  Job  xxx.  4. — Varieties  of  the 
Mallow — Cultivation  and  use  of  the  Mallow — Testimony  of  ancient  authors — 
Papias  and  Isidore's  mention  of  Mallow  cloth — Mallow  cloth  common  in  the 
days  of  Charlemagne — Mallow  shawls — Mallow  cloths  mentioned  in  the  Peri- 
plus  as  exported  from  India  to  Barygaza  (Baroch) — Calidasa  the  Indian  dram- 
atist, who  lived  in  the  first  century  B.  C. — His  testimony — Wallich's  (the  In- 
dian botanist)  account — Mantles  of  woven  bark,  mentioned  in  the  Sacontala 
of  Calidasa — Valcalas  or  Mantles  of  woven  bark,  mentioned  in  the  Ramayana, 
a  noted  poem  of  ancient  India — Sheets  made  from  trees — Ctesias's  testimony 
— Strabo's  account — Testimony  of  Statius  Caecilius  and  Plautus,  who  lived  169 
B.  C.  and  184  B.  C. — Plautus's  laughable  enumeration  of  the  analogy  of  trades 
— Beauty  of  garments  of  Amorgos  mentioned  by  Eupolis — Clearchus's  testi- 
mony— Plato  mentions  linen  shifts — Amorgine  garments  first  manufactured  at 
Athens  in  the  time  of  Aristophanes. 

The  earliest  mention  of  mallows  is  that  given  in  the  book 
of  Job,  in  the  following  words.  "  For  want  and  famine  they 
were  solitary  :  fleeing  into  the  wilderness  in  former  time  deso- 
late and  waste.  Who  cut  up  mallows  by  the  bushes,  and  ju- 
niper-roots for  their  meat." — Job  xxx.  4. 

We  find  in  ancient  authors  of  a  more  modern  date,  distinct 
mention  of  three  species  of  malvaceous  plants,  which  are  still 
common  in  the  South  of  Europe.  These  are,  the  Common 
Mallow,  Malva  Silvestris^  Linn. ;  the  Marsh  Mallow,  Althcea 
Officinalis.  Linn. ;  and  the  Hempleaved  Mallow,  Althaea  Can- 
nabina,  Linn. 

The  Common  Mallow  is  called  by  the  Latin  writers  Malva, 
by  the  Greek  MaXa^,  or  MoX^. 

This  plant  was  used  for  food  from  the  earliest  times.  Hesi- 
od  represents  living  on  Mallows  and  asphodel  as  the  sign  of 
moderation  contentment,  and  simplicity  of  manners. 


192       THE  MALLOW,   ITS   USES  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 

Nf77i70£j  oi)6'  icracLV  otr&j  rrXeop  tffiiav  ttolvtos, 

OvS'  Saov  h  fxaXd^rj  ts  Kal  da^oJeXw  pzy  ovciap. —  Op.  el  Dies,  41. 

Fools !  not  to  know  how  much  more  the  half  is  than  the  whole,  and  how  much 
benefit  there  is  in  mallows  and  asphodel. 

A  dish  of  these  vegetables  was  probably  the  cheapest  of  all 
kinds  of  food ;  they  grew  wild  in  the  meadow  and  by  the  way- 
side, and  were  gathered  and  dressed  without  any  labor  or 
trouble. 

Various  authors  however  mention  the  cultivation  of  the  Com- 
mon Mallow  in  gardens.  See  Virgil,  Moretum,  73.  Pliny, 
Hist.  Nat.  1.  xix.  c.  22  and  31.  Isidori  Orig.  1.  xvii.  c.  10. 
Papiee  Vocabidar.  v.  Malva.  Geoponica,  xii.  1.  Palladuis,  iii. 
24.  xi.  11. 

Dioscorides  (I.  ii.  c.  III.)  calls  it  the  Garden  Mallow.  Aris- 
tophanes [Plutus  544.)  mentions  eating  the  shoots  of  mallows 
instead  of  bread,  intending  by  this  to  represent  a  vile  and  des- 
titute kind  of  living.  Plutarch  (Septem  Sapientum  Con- 
vivium)  says,  "  The  mallow  is  good  for  food,  and  the  Anther- 
icus  is  sweet."    According  to  Le  Clerc  6  dvdtpiKOs 

(Anthericus) 

means  the  scapus  of  the  asphodel :  if  he  is  right,  this  plant  was 
eaten  as  we  now  eat  asparagus.  It  is  also  remarkable  that  on 
this  supposition  Plutarch  mentions  the  same  two  plants,  which 
are  also  mentioned  together  by  Hesiod. 

According  to  Theophrastus  [Hist.  Plant,  vii.  7.  2.)  the  mal- 
low was  not  eaten  raw,  as  in  a  salad,  but  required  to  be  cooked. 
Cicero  (Epist.  ad  Fam.  vii.  26.)  mentions  the  highly-seasoned 
vegetables  at  a  dinner  given  by  his  friend  Lentulus.  Having 
been  made  ill  by  them,  he  says,  that  he,  "  who  easily  abstain- 
ed from  oysters  and  lampreys,  had  been  deceived  by  beet  and 
mallows."  Probably  the  leaves  of  the  mallow  were  on  this  oc- 
casion boiled,  chopped,  and  seasoned,  much  in  the  same  way 
as  spinach  is  now  prepared  in  France. 

Moschus  in  the  following  well-known  lines  refers  to  the  com- 
mon mallow  together  with  other  culinary  vegetables : 

At,  at,  rat  fxaXd^ai  [xcp}  indv  Kara.  Kanov  oAawrai, 
ra  %Xwpa  ce'Xiva,  to  t  evdaXtg  ovXov  avrjOov, 

"YaTspov  av  faovTij  Kal  eig  troj  aXXo  (pvovTi. 
Mallows,  alas  !  die  down,  and  parsley,  and  flourishing  fennel  ; 
Then  they  spring  up  afresh,  and  live  next  year  in  the  garden. 


FITNESS  OF  THE  MALLOW  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH.  193 

This  is  accurately  true  of  the  common  mallow,  the  root  of 
which  is  perennial,  so  that  the  stems  grow  up  and  die  down 
again  every  year.  Accordingly  Theophrastus  brings  it  as  an 
example  of  a  plant  with  annual  stems*. 

Horace  in  two  passages  signifies  his  partiality  to  mallows, 
calling  them  "  leves"  light  to  digest. 

Let  olives  be  my  food,  endive,  and  mallows  light. 

Od.  I  i.  31.  v.  16. 

Mallows,  salubrious  to  a  frame  o'er-filled. 

Epod.  2.  57. 

Martial  recommends  this  vegetable  on  account  of  its  laxative 
effect : 

Utere  lactucis,  et  mollibus  utere  malvis.    (iii.  47.) 

Exoneratarus  ventrem  mihi  villica  malvas 

Attulit,  et  varias,  quas  habet  hortus,  opes.    (x.  48.) 

Diphilus  of  Siphnos  (as  quoted  by  Athenceus,  I.  ii.  p.  58.  E. 
Casaub.),  after  enumerating  the  medical  virtues  of  the  Com- 
mon Mallow,  says,  that  "  the  wild  was  better  than  the  culti- 
vated kind." 

Without  quoting  other  classical  authorities,  the  ancient  prac- 
tice may  be  illustrated  by  the  observations  of  modern  travellers, 
who  mention  that  the  Common  Mallow  is  still  an  article  of  con- 
sumption in  the  same  parts  of  the  world. 

Biddulph,  who  visited  Syria  about  the  year  1600,  says,  he 
"  saw  near  Aleppo  many  poor  people  gathering  mallows,  and 
three-leaved  grass,  and  asked  them  what  they  did  with  it,  and 
they  answered,  that  it  was  all  their  food,  and  that  they  boiled 
it,  and  did  eat  it."  (Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels  from 
the  Library  of  the  E.  of  Oxford,  p.  807.) 

Dr.  Sibthorp  states,  that  the  Malva  Silvestris  grows  wild 
in  Cyprus,  and  is  called  M<5Xco%«.  He  also  says,  "  The  wild  mal- 
low is  very  common  about  Athens :  the  leaves  are  boiled  and 
eaten  as  a  pot-herb,  and  an  ingredient  in  the  Dolma."  (Me- 
moirs relating  to  European  and  Asiatic  Turkey,  edited  by 
Walpole,  p.  245.)    Dr.  Holland  mentions  both  Malva  Silves- 


*  Hist.  Plant.  1.  vii.  c.  8.  p.  142.  Heinsii.  240.  Schneider. 

25 


194       THE  MALLOW,   ITS  USES  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 

tris  and  Althcea  Officinalis  among  the  officinal  plants,  which 
he  found  in  Cephalonia.    ( Travels  in  Greece,  p.  543,  Ato.). 

The  Althaea  Officinalis,  or  Marsh  Mallow,  is  called  by  the 
Greek  authors  'A\e<x(a,  by  the  Latin,  Hibiscus.  Theophrastus 
says,  that  it  went  also  under  the  name  of  wild  mallow*.  Whilst 
the  Common  Mallow,  though  highly  esteemed  for  its  medicinal 
virtues,  was  principally  regarded  as  a  substantial  article  of  food ; 
the  Marsh  Mallow,  on  the  contrary,  seems  to  have  been  rarely 
used  except  as  an  article  of  the  Materia  Medicat ;  and,  as  its 
peculiar  properties  were  likely  to  be  more  matured  in  the  wild 
than  cultivated  state,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  grown  in 
gardenst.  Theophrastus  describes  it  by  comparing  it  with  the 
Common  Mallow,  and  mentions  its  application,  both  internally 
and  externally,  as  a  medicine§.  Dioscorides  (I.  iii.  c.  139.)  gives 
similar  details.  Besides  mentioning  the  proper  name  of  the 
plant  in  Greek  and  in  Latin,  he  calls  it,  "  a  kind  of  wild  mal- 
low." Palladius  (I.  xi.  p.  184.  Bip.)  explains  "Hibiscus"  to 
be  the  same  as  "Althcea."  See  also  Pliny,  I.  xx.  c.  14.  ed.  Bip. 
Virgil  alludes  to  the  use  of  it  as  fodder  for  goats,  and  as  a  ma- 
terial for  weaving  baskets]]. 

The  Hemp-leaved  Mallow,  Althcea  Cannabina,  is  once  men- 
tioned by  Dioscorides  (lib.  iii.  c.  141.).  Giving  an  account  of 
hemp,  he  distinguishes  between  the  cultivated  and  the  wild. 
He  says  of  the  wild  hemp,  that  the  Romans  called  it  Canna- 
bis Terminalis^.  After  mentioning  the  medical  properties  of 
the  plant,  Dioscorides  says,  that  its  bark  was  useful  for  making 
ropes.  The  truth  of  this  observation  will  be  apparent  to  every 
botanist.    The  plants  belonging  to  the  natural  order  Malva- 


*  Hist.  Plant.  1.  ix.  cap.  15.  p.  188.  Heinsii. 

f  Calpurnius  (Eclog.  iv.  32,)  mentions  the  "  Hibiscus''  as  used  for  food,  but 
only  by  persons  in  a  state  of  great  destitution. 

t  At  a  later  period,  however,  we  find  the  Althaea  Officinalis  under  the  name  of 
"  Ibischa  Mis-malva"  in  a  catalogue  of  the  plants,  which  Charlemagne  selected 
for  cultivation  in  the  gardens  attached  to  his  villas.  See  Sprengel,  Hist.  Rei 
Herb.  i.  220. 

§  Hist.  Plant.  1.  ix.  cap.  19,  p.  192.  ed.  Heinsii. 

II  Eclog.  ii.  30.  and  x.  71.    See  Servius,  Heyne,  and  J.  H.  Voss.,  ad  loc. 
IT  Meaning  literally  Hedge-hemp. 


FITNESS  OF  THE  MALLOW  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH.  195 

cece  are  all  remarkable  for  the  abundance  of  strong  and  beau- 
tiful fibres  in  their  bark*. 

But  of  the  European  species  there  is  none  superior  in  the 
fineness,  the  strength,  the  whiteness,  and  lustre  of  its  fibres,  to 
the  Common  Mallow,  the  Malva  Silvestris.  We  have  seen 
that  the  ancients  were  familiarly  acquainted  with  this  plant ; 
that  it  was  commonly  cultivated  in  their  gardens ;  and  that 
they  gathered  it,  when  growing  wild,  to  be  taken  as  food  or 
medicine.  In  these  circumstances  they  could  scarcely  fail  to  ob- 
serve the  aptitude  of  its  bark  for  being  spun  into  thread.  More 
especially  in  places  where  they  had  no  other  native  supply  of 
fibrous  materials  ;  in  Attica,  for  example,  which  probably  pro- 
duced neither  hemp  nor  flax,  it  seems  in  the  highest  degree 
probable,  that  the  fitness  of  the  mallow  to  supply  materials  for 
weaving  would  not  be  overlooked. 

In  producing  the  evidence,  which  establishes  this  as  a  posi- 
tive fact,  we  shall  begin  with  the  latest  testimonies  and  proceed 
in  a  reverse  order  upward  to  the  most  ancient.  According  to 
this  plan,  the  first  authority  is  that  of  Papias,  who  wrote  his 
Vocabulary  about  the  year  1050.  He  gives  the  following  ex- 
planations : 

Malbella  vestis  quae  ex  malvarum  stamine  conficitur,  quam  alii  molocinam  vo- 
cant. 

Molocina  vestis  quae  albo  stamine  sit :  quam  alii  malbellam  vocant. 

These  passages  clearly  describe  a  kind  of  cloth  made  of  the 
white  fibres  of  the  common  mallow.  Malbella,  the  same  with 
Malvella,  is  a  Latin  adjective,  in  the  form  of  a  diminutive,  from 
Malva :  Molocina,  the  same  with  MoA^d^,  is  a  Greek  adjective 
from  Mo\6Xr,,  and  signifies  made  of  mallow. 

Papias,  who  seems  in  compiling  his  dictionary  to  have  made 
great  use  of  Isidore,  perhaps  derived  these  explanations  in  part 
from  the  following  passage  of  the  latter  author  : 


*  We  have  the  following  testimony  respecting  the  actual  fabrication  of  mallow- 
cloth  in  modern  times : 

"  Nous  avons  vu  k  Madrid,  chez  le  savant  pharmacien  D.  Casimir  Ortega,  de 
ces  tissus,  qui  nous  ont  semble  fort  remarquables.  lis  €taient  faits  avec  l'ecorce 
des  Altheas  officinalis  et  cannabina,  et  avec  celle  du  Malva  sylvestris."  Fe'e, 
Flore  de  Virgile,  Paris  1822,  p.  66. 


196        THE  MALLOW,   ITS  USES  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 

Melocinia  (vestis  est),  quae  mal varum  stamine  conficitur,  quam  alii  molocinam3 
alii  malvellam  vocant.    Isid.  Hisp.  Orig.  xix.  22. 

The  cloth  called  Melocinea  is  made  of  the  thread  of  mallows,  and  is  called  by 
some  Molocina,  by  others  Malvella. 

The  passages  of  Papias  cannot  be  taken  as  a  proof,  that  mal- 
low-cloth was  woven  in  his  day.  But  that  it  was  in  fashion 
as  late  as  the  age  of  Charlemagne  appears  from  the  following 
line,  which  is  quoted  by  Du  Cange  (Glossar.  Med.  et  Inf. 
Lat.  v.  Melocineus)  from  a  poem  in  praise  of  that  monarch, 
attributed  to  Alcuin : 

Tecta  melocineo  fulgescit  femina  amictu. 
Wrapt  in  a  mallow  shawl  the  lady  shines. 

The  word  "fulgescit"  aptly  describes  the  lustre  of  the  mate- 
rial under  consideration.  From  the  Periplus  of  the  Erythrean 
Sea*  we  learn,  that  cloths  made  of  mallow,  were  among  the 
articles  of  export  from  India,  being  brought  from  Ozene  (Ugain) 
and  Tagara  in  the  interior  of  the  country  to  the  sea-port  of 
Barygaza  (Baroch).    P.  146.  169,  170,  171. 

The  genus  Hibiscus,  Linn,  is  very  abundant  in  India.  The 
bark  of  a  certain  species  of  this  genus,  especially  of  H.  Tilia- 
ceus  and  H.  Cannabinus,  is  now  very  extensively  employed 
for  making  cordage,  and  might  unquestionably  have  been  used 
for  making  clotht. 

H.  Tiliaceus  is  also  represented  in  Rheede's  Hort.  Malaban- 
cus  (vol.  i.  fig.  30.).    It  grows  about  15  feet  high. 

Dr.  Wallich  (Cat.  of  Indian  Woods,  p.  18.)  mentions  two 
other  species  as  used  for  making  cordage  from  the  bark. 

The  late  Mr.  John  Hare,  who  lived  in  India  a  long  time, 
says,  that  a  coarse  kind  of  cloth,  used  for  making  sacks,  &c, 
is  now  woven  from  Hibiscus  bark. 

As  a  further  evidence,  that  the  Molochina  mentioned  in  the 
Periplus  were  made  from  the  bark  of  the  Hibiscus,  we  may 

*  P.  146.  169,  170,  171.    Arriani  Op.  ed.  Blancardi,  torn.  ii. 

t  Cavanilles,  Tab.  52,  fig.  1,  represents  H.  Cannabinus,  the  leaf  of  which  is 
like  that  of  hemp.  Tab.  55,  fig.  1,  represents  H.  Tiliaceus,  in  the  description  of 
which  we  read  "  cortice  in  Junes  ductili ;"  and  Cavanilles  says,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  South  Sea  Islands  (Australium  insularum)  use  in  their  ships  and  boats 
ropes  made  from  the  bark. 


4 


FITNESS   OF  THE  MALLOW   FOR  MAKING  CLOTH.  197 

refer  to  that  admirable  specimen  of  Eastern  taste  and  ingenu- 
ity, the  Sacontala  of  the  great  Indian  dramatist  Calidasa.  Sev- 
eral passages  of  this  poem  make  mention  of  the  Valcala,  which 
the  Sanscrit  Lexicons,  themselves  of  great  antiquity,  explain  as 
meaning  either  bark,  or  a  vesture  made  from  it.  We  learn 
from  Dr.  Wallich,  a  celebrated  Indian  botanist,  that  many 
kinds  of  Hibiscus  had  this  quality  in  an  eminent  degree,  and, 
as  their  bark  was  in  common  use  for  making  all  kinds  of  cord- 
age, it  might  undoubtedly  be  employed  for  weaving. 

The  Sacontala  is  of  a  date  as  ancient  as  the  Periplus.  Pro- 
fessor Von  Bohlen  (Das  alte  Indien,  vol.  ii.  p.  477.)  asserts, 
that  the  author  Calidasa  certainly  flourished  as  early  as  the 
first  century  B.  C.  Sir  William  Jones  makes  him  older  by 
several  centuries.  (  Works^  vol.  vi.  p.  206.)  The  place  also 
agrees  as  well  as  the  time.  The  Hibiscus  Tiliaceus,  according 
to  Sir  J.  E.  Smith,  is  "  one  of  the  most  common  trees  in  every 
part  of  the  East  Indies,  thriving  in  all  sorts  of  situations  and 
soils,  and  cultivated  for  the  sake  of  its  shade  even  more  than 
the  beauty  of  its  flowers,  in  towns  and  villages  and  by  road- 
sides. A  coarse  cordage,"  he  adds,  "  is  made  of  the  bark  ;  the 
wood  is  light  and  white,  useful  for  small  cabinet-work ;  the 
mucilage  of  the  whole  plant  is  applied  to  some  medical  pur- 
poses." The  Molochina,  montioned  in  the  Periplus,  were 
brought  from  Ozene  and  Tagara,  and  may  have  come  from 
still  further  North.  The  hermitage,  described  in  the  drama, 
was  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  and  near  the  river 
Malina,  and,  according  to  the  representations  given  by  the  poet, 
the  Valcalas  (translated  by  Sir  W.  Jones  "  mantles  of  woven 
bark"  and  by  Chezy,  " vetemens  d'ecorce"),  were  worn  both 
by  the  hermits  and  by  the  beautiful  Sacontala,  while  she  was 
their  inmate*. 

"Valcalas"  are  mentioned  in  precisely  the  same  manner  in 
the  Ramayana,  one  of  the  most  noted  of  the  heroic  poems  of 
ancient  India.  They  are  represented  as  coarse  garments  worn 
by  ascetics. 

*  Translation  of  the  Sacontala,  Sir  W.  Jones's  Works,  vol.  vi.  pp.  217.  225.  289. 
Original,  ed.  Chezy,  Paris,  1830,  p.  7,  1.  10. ;  p.  9, 1. 10 ;  p.  24, 1.  7. ;  p.  131, 1. 14. 
Chezy's  translation,  pp.  10.  27.  142.  143.    See  also  Heeren,  Ideen,  i.  2.  p.  648. 


198        THE   MALLOW,   ITS  USES  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 

If  the  explanation  now  given  be  admitted  as  applicable  to 
the  Molochina  of  the  Periplus,  it  may  throw  light  upon  some 
other  passages  of  ancient  authors. 

Ctesias,  in  his  Indica*,  mentions  "  sheets  made  from  trees? 

Strabo's  account  of  the  webs,  which  he  calls  Serica,  an  ac- 
count derived  from  the  writings  of  Nearchus,  admiral  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great,  represents  those  webs  as  made  from  fibres, 
which  were  scraped  from  the  bark  of  trees.  This  would  apply 
exactly  to  the  supposed  use  of  the  Hibiscus  for  making  cloth. 
The  bark  must  have  been  first  stript  from  the  tree,  and  the 
fibres  then  scraped  from  the  inside  of  the  bark. 

To  the  same  source  we  may,  we  think,  trace  the  idea  ol 
Arethas  {in  Apoc.  c.  57.),  that  the  Byssus,  Rev.  xix.  8.,  was 
"  the  bark  of  an  Indian  tree  made  into  flax? 

Although  the  date  of  the  following  inscription,  found  at 
Rome,  is  uncertain,  it  may  be  conveniently  brought  in  here. 
It  is  published  by  Muratori,  Novtis  Thesaurus  Vet.  Inscrip- 
tionum,  torn.  ii.  p.  939. 

P.  AVCTIVS  P.  L.  LYSANDER. 

VESTIARIVS.  TENVIARIVS. 
MOLOCHINARIVS.  VOT.  SOL. 

Muratori  in  his  Note  says,  that  "  Vestiarius  Tenuiarius"  was 
the  man  who  made  thin  garments,  and  "  Molochinarius"  the 
man  who  made  such  garments  of  a  mallow  color. 

The  authors,  next  in  regard  to  antiquity,  who  make  mention 
of  Molochina,  are  the  writers  of  the  Latin  Comedy,  Statius 
Csecilius,  who  died  169  B.  C,  and  Plautus,  who  died  184  B.  C. 

Nonius  Marcellus  (/.  xvi.)  quotes  the  following  line  from  the 
Pansimachus  of  the  former  dramatist : 

Carbasina,  molochina,  ampelina.t 

The  passage  of  Plautus  is  in  the  Aulularia  {Act  iii.  Scene  v. 
I.  40.),  where  we  have  a  ludicrous  enumeration,  extending 


*  Cap.  22.  Fragmenta,  ed.  Bahr.  p.  253.  326. 

t  See  C.  C.  Statii  Fragmenta,  a  Leonhardo  Spengel,  Monachii  1829,  p.  35 
Statius  chiefly  copied  Menander  (Gellius,  ii.  c.  16.);  but  it  is  not  certain  that 
Menander  wrote  any  play  called  Pausimachus. 


FITNESS  OF  THE  MALLOW  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH.  199 

through  more  than  ten  lines,  of  all  the  persons  concerned  in 
the  manufacture  or  sale  of  garments. 

Solearii  astant,  astant  molochinarii. 

All  the  lexicographers  and  commentators  explain  Molochi- 
narius  to  be  one  who  dyes  cloth  of  the  color  of  the  mallow. 
Lanarius  was  a  woollen-draper ;  Coactiliarins,  a  dealer  in 
felts,  a  hatter ;  Lintearius  a  linen-draper ;  and  Sericarias  a 
silk-mercer.  According  to  the  same  analogy,  Molochinarius 
would  mean  a  dealer  in  Molochiiia,  i.  e.  in  all  kinds  of  cloth 
made  from  mallows. 

The  class  of  writers,  which  will  now  be  produced  as  afford- 
ing testimony  respecting  the  use  of  the  mallow  for  weaving, 
are  Greek  authors,  and  who  instead  of  the  common  Greek 
terms  employ  the  Attic  term  Apopyds  and  its  derivatives. 

'Apopyds  has  been  explained  by  some  of  the  lexicographers 
to  be  a  kind  of  flax  (See  Julius  Pollux,  L.  vii.  §  74.).  Perhaps 
by  this  explanation  nothing  more  was  intended  than  that  it 
was  a  plant,  the  fibres  of  which  were  used  to  spin  and  weave 
into  cloth.  It  is  highly  probable  that  it  was  the  Malva  Silves- 
tris  or  Common  Mallow,  and  that  it  was  called  'Apopyds, 

According  to  the  Attic  lexicons  of  Pausanias  (apud  Eustath. 
I.  c.)  and  of  Moeris,  'Apopyds  was  an  Attic  term.  We  now  find 
traces  of  it  in  seven  Attic  writers,  four  or  five  of  whom  wrote 
comedy.  These  are  Aristophanes,  Cratinus,  Antiphanes,  Eu- 
polis,  Clearchus,  iEschines,  and  Plato. 

L  We  shall  take  first  Aristophanes,  whose  comedy  called 
Lysistrata  is  frequently  quoted  by  Pausanias  and  Cratinus,  and 
being  still  extant  throws  considerable  light  upon  the  subject.  It 
was  represented  in  the  year  412.  B.  C.  Lysistrata  says  (/. 
150), 

K<p  toTs  %itoovioici  toTs  dpopyivois 
Yvpval  napioTpev, 

"  And  if  we  should  present  ourselves  naked  in  shifts  of  amor- 
gos  showing  that  these  shifts  were  transparent.  Accordingly 
Moeris  says,  that  the  dpopyivov  was  x^i-ov  fya^a,  "  a  thin  web."  Bi- 
setus  in  his  Greek  commentary  on  this  play,  after  quoting  the 
explanations  of  Stephanus  Byzantinus,  Suidas,  Eustathius, 


200       THE  MALLOW,  ITS  USES  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 

and  the  Etymologicum  Magnum,  judiciously  concludes  as  fol- 
lows :  "  From  all  these  it  is  manifest,  that  d^pyivoi  %er<yw$, 
whether  they  took  their  name  from  a  place,  from  their  color,  or 
from  the  raw  material,  were  a  kind  of  valuable  robe,  worn  by 
the  rich,  fashionable,  and  luxurious  women." 

A  subsequent  passage  of  the  Lysistrata  (v.  736-741)  still 
farther  illustrates  this  subject.  A  woman  laments,  that  she  has 
left  at  home  her  dppyis  without  being  peeled  (aXonov),  and  she 
goes  to  peel  it  (dvodeipeiv).  The  mallow  no  less  than  flax  and 
hemp,  would  require  the  bark  to  be  stript  off,  and  doubtless  the 
best  time  for  stripping  it  is  as  soon  as  the  plant  is  gathered. 

II.  Cratinus  died  about  420  B.  C.  The  following  line,  from 
his  comedy  called  Ma\QaKoi,  represents  a  person  spinning  9A[xopyds* 

'Apopydv  tvSov  PpVTLVrjV  vfiOsLv  riva. 

Cratina  Fragmenta,  a  Runkel,  p.  29. 

III.  Julius  Pollux,  speaking  of  garments  made  of  'Awydj  (L. 
vii.  c.  13.)  quotes  the  Medea  of  Antiphanes  thus ;  yHv  X'™v 
djxdpyivog.    This  author  was  contemporary  with  Aristophanes. 

IV.  Eupolis  wrote  about  the  same  time,  and  his  authority 
may  be  added  to  the  rest  as  proving  that  garments  of  Amorgos 
were  admired  by  luxurious  persons  at  Athens*. 

V.  Clearchus  of  Solit  mentions  the  use  of  a  cover  of  Amor- 
gos for  inclosing  a  splendid  purple  blanket.  This  application 
of  it  is  agreeable  to  the  foregoing  evidence,  showing  that  the 
amorgine  webs  were  transparent.  The  silky  translucence  of 
the  lace-like  web  of  mallow  would  have  a  very  beautiful  effect 
over  the  fine  purple  of  the  downy  blanket. 

VI.  iEschines  in  an  oration  against  Timarchus,  the  object 
of  which  is  to  hold  up  to  contempt  the  extravagancies  of  this 
Athenian  spendthrift,  in  his  enumeration  of  them,  he  mentions 
(p.  118,  ed.  Reiskii.)  that  Timarchus  took  to  his  house  "  a  wo- 
man skilled  in  making  cloths  of  Amorgos." 

*  See  Harpocration,  p.  29.  ed.  Blancardi.  1683.  4to.  Also  Pher.  et  Eupolidis 
Fragmenta,  a  Runkel,  p.  150. 

t  Ap.  Alhenseum,  L.  vi.  p.  255,  Casaub.  Clearchus  probably  wrote  about  100 
years  later  than  the  before-mentioned  authors,  but  the  circumstances  related  by 
him  may  have  occurred  about  the  time  when  those  authors  flourished,  and  even 
at  Athens. 


FITNESS  OF  THE  MALLOW  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH.  201 

VII.  Plato  in  the  13th  Epistle,  addressed  to  DionysiuSj  ty- 
rant of  Syracuse,  which,  if  not  genuine,  is  at  least  ancient, 
proposes  to  give  to  the  three  daughters  of  Cebes  three  long 
shifts,  not  the  valuable  shifts  made  of  Amorgos,  but  the  linen 
shifts  of  Sicily. 

The  mention  of  amorgine  garments  by  the  writers,  who 
have  now  been  cited,  seems  to  prove,  that  the  fashion  of  making 
and  wearing  them  first  came  in  among  the  Greeks  at  Athens 
in  the  time  of  Aristophanes,  who  lived,  as  the  reader  will  have 
observed,  in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  From  them  the 
fashion  may  have  extended  itself  into  Sicily  and  Italy,  which 
will  account,  if  Amorgina  were  the  same  with  Molochinay 
for  the  striking  agreement  in  this  respect  between  the  writers 
of  Greek  and  of  Latin  Comedy.  In  subsequent  ages  the  man- 
ufacture seems  so  have  declined,  probably  in  consequence  of 
the  abundance  of  silk  and  other  rich  and  beautiful  goods  im- 
ported from  Asia.  But  the  mention  of  these  stuffs  in  the  wri- 
tings of  Isidore  and  Alcuin  renders  it  probable,  that  they  were 
brought  again  into  use  in  the  fifth  and  following  centuries  of 
the  Christian  era. 

26 


CHAPTER  I  111 

SPARTUM,  OR  SPANISH  BROOM. 


CLOTH  MANUFACTURED  FROM  BROOM  BARK,  NETTLE,  AND  BULBOUS 
PLANT.  TESTIMONY  OF  GREEK  AND  LATIN  AUTHORS. 

Authority  for  Spanish  Broom — Stipa  Tenacissima — Cloth  made  from  Broom- 
bark — Albania — Italy — France — Mode  of  preparing  the  fibre  for  weaving — 
Pliny's  account  of  Spartum — Bulbous  plant — -Its  fibrous  coats — Pliny's  transla- 
tion of  Theophrastus — Socks  and  garments — Size  of  the  bulb — Its  genus  or 
species  not  sufficiently  defined — Remarks  of  various  modern  writers  on  this  plant 
— Interesting  communications  of  Dr.  Daniel  Stebbins,  of  Northampton,  Mass. 
to  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth. 

Pliny  says,  that  "  in  the  part  of  Hispania  Citerior  about 
New  Carthage  whole  mountains  were  covered  with  Spartum  ; 
that  the  natives  made  mattresses,  shoes,  and  coarse  garments 
of  it,  also  fires  and  torches  ;  and  that  its  tender  tops  were  eaten 
by  animals*."  He  also  says,  that  it  grows  spontaneously 
where  nothing  else  will  grow,  and  that  it  is  "  the  rush  of  a  dry 
soil." 

The  question  now  arises,  what  plant  Pliny  intended  to  de- 
scribe. Clusius,  who  travelled  in  Spain  chiefly  with  a  view  to 
botany,  supposed  Pliny's  "  Spartum"  to  be  the  tough  grass, 
used  in  every  part  of  Spain  for  making  mats,  baskets,  &c, 
which  Linnaeus  afterwards  called  Stipa  Tenacissimaf.  It  is 
not  surprising,  that  the  opinion  of  so  eminent  a  botanist  as 
Clusius  has  been  generally  adopted.  It  is,  however,  far 
more  probable,  that  the  plant,  which  Pliny  intended  to  speak 
of,  was  the  Spartium  Junceum,  Linn.,  so  familiarly  known 
under  the  name  of  Spanish  Broom. 

In  the  first  place,  the  name  Spartum  should  be  considered  as 
decisive  of  the  question,  unless  some  sufficient  reason  can  be 


*  L.  xix.  c.  2. 


t  Clusii  Plant.  Rar.  Historia,  L.  vi.  p.  219.  220. 


ITS  FITNESS  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH. 


203 


shown  for  ascribing  to  it  in  this  passage  a  sense  different  from 
that  which  it  commonly  bore.  Spartus  or  Spartum,  is  ad- 
mitted to  be  used  by  all  authors,  Greek  and  Latin,  and  even 
by  Pliny  himself  in  another  passage*,  to  denote  the  Spanish 
Broom.  We  learn  from  Sibthorp,  that  the  Spanish  Broom  is 
still  called  Spar  to  by  the  Greeks,  and  that  it  grows  on  dry 
sandy  hills  throughout  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago  and  the 
continent  of  Greece.  Sparto  was  indeed  properly  the  Greek 
name  of  this  shrub,  the  Latin  name  being  Genista,  and  the 
use  of  the  Greek  name  in  Hispania  Citerior  may  have  been 
owing  to  the  Grecian  settlements  on  that  coast,  colonized  from 
Marseilles. 

Besides  the  passages  of  Latin  authors  referred  to  by  Schnei- 
der and  Billerbeck,  and  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat,  the 
following  from  Isidore  of  Seville  appears  decisive  respecting  the 
acceptation  of  the  term. 

"  Spartus  frutex  virgosus  sine  foliis,  ab  asperitate  vocatus ; 
volumina  enim  funium,  quae  ex  eo  fiunt,  aspera  sunt.*'  Orig- 
inum  L.  xvii.  c.  9. 

This  is  the  definition  of  a  learned  and  observant  author,  who 
lived  in  Spain,  and  who  must  have  been  familiar  with  the 
facts.  "  Frutex  virgosus  sine  foliis1'1  is  a  clear  and  striking 
description  of  the  Spanish  Broom,  the  leaves  of  which  are  so 
small  as  easily  to  escape  observation"!".  The  Stipa  Tenacissi- 
ma,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  a  shrub  with  twigs,  but  a  grass, 
which  grows  in  tufts,  the  long  leaves  being  as  abundant  and 
useful  as  the  stems  or  straws.  Clusius  himself  (I.  c.)  in  lay- 
ing down  the  distinction  between  the  Spartum  of  the  Greeks, 
which  he  supposed  to  be  the  Spanish  Broom,  and  the  Spartum 
of  Pliny,  which  he  supposed  to  be  the  Stipa  Tenacissima,  as- 
serts that  the  former  is  a  shrub  (frutex),  the  latter  a  herb  with 
grassy  leaves  (herb a  graminacea  folia  proferens).  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Spain  in  the  time  of  Isidore 

*  See  L.  xi.  8.  where  Pliny  says,  that  bees  obtain  honey  and  wax  from 
"  Spartum,"  and  compare  this  with  Aristotle,  Hist.  Anim.  L.  x.  40. 

t  Dioscorides  also  describes  the  Spanish  Broom  to  be  "  a  shrub  bearing  long 
twigs  without  leaves."  Isidore's  etymology,  deducing  Spartus  from  Asper,  is  man- 
ifestly absurd. 


204 


SPARTUM  OR  SPANISH  BROOM  : 


still  used  the  term  Spartus  in  its  original  acceptation,  viz.  to 
denote  the  Spartium  Junceum  of  Linneeus. 

When  the  Stipa  Tenacissima  was  brought  into  use  for  ma- 
king ropes  and  for  other  purposes,  for  which  the  Spanish  Broom 
was  employed,  the  name  of  the  latter  would  naturally  be  ex- 
tended to  the  former,  and  we  may  thus  account  for  the  fact 
that  the  Stipa  Tenacissima  is  now  universally  known  in  Spain 
by  the  name  Esparto.  Indeed  it  is  possible,  that  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Stipa  Tenacissima  for  these  purposes  may  have 
been  as  ancient  as  the  time  of  Pliny ;  and  his  use  of  the  word 
"  herba"  in  describing  it,  as  well  as  the  locality  which  he  as- 
signs to  it,  the  hilly  country  about  Carthage,  favors  the  common 
interpretation,  and  perhaps  even  authorizes  the  conclusion,  that 
his  account  is  the  result  of  confounding  the  two  plants  together, 
so  that  he  says  of  one  supposed  plant  things,  which  were  partly 
true  of  both,  and  partly  applicable  either  to  the  Spanish  Broom, 
or  to  the  Stipa  Tenacissima  only.  But,  even  if  this  be  admit- 
ted, it  is  still  possible  that  the  plant,  from  whose  fibres  the 
"  pastorum  vestis"  was  manufactured,  was  not  the  grassy  Sti- 
pa, but  the  shrub,  the  Spanish  Broom. 

In  order  to  establish  this  point  we  now  proceed  to  mention  the 
evidence  respecting  the  application  of  it  to  such  uses.  It  has 
been  employed  for  making  cloth  in  Turkey,  in  Italy,  and  the 
South  of  France,  but  in  circumstances,  which  were  either  spe- 
cially favorable  to  the  manufacture,  or  where  flax  could  not  be 
cultivated.  It  is  manufactured  into  shirts  in  Albania  according 
to  Dr.  Sibthorp*.  Nearly  a  century  ago,  Pope  Benedict  XIV. 
brought  a  colony  of  Albanians  to  inhabit  a  barren  and  desolate 
portion  of  his  territory  on  the  sea-coast.  Here  they  obtained  a 
very  fine,  strong,  durable  thread  from  the  Broom  and  the  Net- 
tie,  and  used  it,  when  woven,  in  place  of  linent.  Trombelli, 
who  relates  this  fact,  also  gives  an  account  of  the  manufacture 
of  broom-bark  in  the  vicinity  of  Lucca,  where  the  hills,  called 
Monte  Cascia,  are  covered  with  this  plantt    "  Formerly,"  he 

*  Flora  Graeca,  No.  671. 

t  Trombelli,  Bononiensis  Scient.  atque  Artium  Instituti  Commentarii,  torn.  vi. 
p.  118. 

t  Trombelli  calls  the  plant  Genista,  and  says  it  is  the  kind  called  by  botanists 


ITS  FITNESS  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH. 


205 


says,  "  the  people  derived  no  other  advantage  from  the  shrub 
than  to  feed  sheep  and  goats  with  it,  and  to  heat  their  stoves 
and  furnaces.  But  their  ingenuity  and  industry  have  now 
made  it  far  more  profitable.  They  steep  the  twigs  for  some 
days  in  the  thermal  waters  of  Bagno  a  Acqua  near  Lucca. 
After  this  process  the  bark  is  easily  stript  off,  and  it  is  then 
combed  and  otherwise  treated  like  flax.  It  becomes  finer 
than  hemp  could  be  made  ;  it  is  easily  dyed  of  any  color,  and 
may  be  used  for  garments  of  any  kind*."  In  the  vicinity  of 
Pisa  we  find  that  the  twigs  of  the  Spanish  Broom  were  in  like 
manner  soaked  in  the  thermal  waters,  and  that  a  coarse  cloth 
was  manufactured  from  the  barkt. 

But  the  manufacture  has  been  carried  to  a  far  greater  extent 
in  the  South  of  France.  In  the  Journal  de  Physique,  Tom. 
30.  Ato.  An.  1787.  p.  294.,  is  a  paper  by  Broussonet  Sur  la 
culture  et  les  usages  economiques  du  Genet  dJ  Espagne.  A 
minute  and  highly  curious  account  is  here  given  of  the  mode 
of  preparing  the  fibres,  which  is  practised  by  the  inhabitants  of 
all  the  villages  in  the  vicinity  of  Lodeve  in  Bas  Languedoc. 
The  shrub  abounds  on  the  barren  hills  of  that  region,  and  all 
that  the  people  do  to  favor  its  growth  is  to  sow  the  seed  in  the 
driest  places,  where  scarce  any  other  plant  can  vegetate.  After 
being  cut,  the  twigs  are  dried  in  the  sun,  then  beaten,  macera- 
ted in  water,  and  treated  in  the  same  way  as  flax  or  hemp 
(See  Zincke's  process,  Chapter  XL).  The  coarser  thread  is 
used  to  make  bags  for  holding  the  legumes,  corn,  &c. ;  the 
finer  for  making  sheets,  napkins,  and  shirts.  The  peasants  in 
this  district  use  no  other  kind  of  linen,  not  being  acquainted 
with  the  culture  either  of  flax  or  hemp.  The  ground  is  too 
dry  and  unproductive  to  suit  these  plants.    The  linen  made 


"  Genista  juncea  flore  luteo."  This  is  the  Spartium  Juncenm  of  Linnaeus.  See 
Ray,  Catal.  Stirp.  Europ.  and  Scopoli,  Flora  Carniolica,  1772,  torn.  i.  No.  870. 

*  Bononiensis  Scientiarum  atque  Artium  Instituti  Commentarii,  torn.  iv.  Bo- 
no n.  1757,  p.  349-351.  A  similar  account  of  the  manufacture  of  the  "  Teladi 
Ginestia"  at  Bagno  a  Acqua  is  given  by  Mr.  John  Strange,  who  says  he  had  sent 
an  account  of  it  to  the  Society  for  encouraging  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Com- 
merce.   Lettera  sopi%  POrigine  della  carta  naturale  di  Cortona,  Pisa  1764.  p.  79. 

+  Mem.  de  PAcademie  des  Sciences,  Paris  1763. 


206 


SPARTUM  OR  SPANISH   BROOM  I 


of  the  Spanish  Broom  is  as  supple  as  that  made  from  hemp  j 
it  might  be  even  as  beautiful  as  real  linen,  if  more  pains  were 
taken  with  it.  It  becomes  whiter,  the  oftener  it  is  washed.  It 
is  rarely  sold,  each  family  making  it  for  its  own  use.  The 
stalks,  after  the  rind  has  been  separated  from  them,  are  tied  in 
small  bundles,  and  sold  for  lighting  fires. 

Let  us  now  see  how  far  Pliny's  account  of  the  Spartum 
agrees  with  these  representations  of  the  mode  of  manufactu- 
ring Broom-bark.  The  Spartum,  of  which  he  speaks,  is  "  the 
rush  of  a  dry  soil"  a  description  far  more  applicable  to  the 
young  twigs  of  the  Spanish  Broom  than  to  the  grassy  stems 
of  the  Stipa  Tenacissima,  or  indeed  to  any  other  plant.  His 
Spartum  was  used  for  making  fires  and  for  giving  light  (hinc 
ignes  facesque),  purposes  for  which  the  Stipa  Tenacissima  is 
not  at  all  adapted,  but  to  both  of  which  the  stems  and  twigs  of 
the  Spanish  Broom  are  applied.  The  tender  tops  of  Pliny's 
Spartum  served  as  food  for  animals.  According  to  Trom- 
belli  sheep  and  goats  feed  upon  the  Spanish  Broom  in  Italy  ; 
but  we  cannot  find  that  this  is  the  case  with  the  Stipa  Tena- 
cissima. Pliny's  Spartum,  after  being  steeped  in  water,  was 
beaten  in  order  to  be  made  useful  (Hoc  autem  tunditur^  ut 
fiat  utile) ;  and  this  process  was  quite  necessary  in  preparing 
the  twigs  of  Spanish  Broom,  whereas  the  Stipa  Tenacissima 
is  most  commonly  manufactured  without  going  through  any 
such  process.  Clusius  indeed  states  (I.  c.)  that  by  macerating 
it  in  water  like  flax,  and  then  drying  and  beating  it,  the  Span- 
iards of  Valencia  make  a  kind  of  shoes,  which  they  call  Alper- 
gates,  also  cords,  and  other  finer  articles  ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  he  says,  that  it  is  made  into  mats,  baskets,  ropes,  and 
cables,  merely  by  being  dried,  platted,  and  twisted,  without  any 
other  operation.  The  same  account  is  given  by  Townsend, 
who  visited  the  country  as  late  as  1787,  and  who  further  states, 
that  "  the  esparto  rush"  had  latterly  "  been  spun  into  fine  thread 
for  the  purpose  of  making  cloth*."  It  seems,  however,  that  this 
had  only  been  done  as  an  experiment,  whereas  the  accounts 
which  have  been  quoted  show,  that  the  manufacture  of  cloth 


*  Journey  through  Spain,  vol.  iii.  p.  129,  130. 


ITS  FITNESS  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH. 


207 


from  broom-bark  had  been  long  established  in  Albania,  Italy, 
and  the  South  of  France.  In  the  latter  district  more  especially, 
the  entire  dependence  of  the  people  on  this  material  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  flax  and  hemp,  and  the  primitive  mode  in  which  this 
domestic  manufacture  was  carried  on  in  a  retired  and  moun- 
tainous region,  seem  to  indicate  the  high  antiquity  of  the  prac- 
tice. All  the  other  authors,  who  mention  the  use  of  the  Stipa 
Tenacissima,  certainly  give  little  countenance  to  the  idea  of  its 
fitness  to  supply  a  thread  for  making  cloth.  Mr.  Carter,  adopt- 
ing the  common  opinion  that  the  Spartum  of  Pliny  is  the  Stipa 
Tenacissima,  observes,  that  "  at  present  the  meanest  Spaniard 
would  think  clothing  made  from  this  grass  very  rough  and  un- 
comfortable*." We  shall  only  quote  one  other  authority,  that 
of  Lofling,  the  favorite  pupil  of  Linnaeus,  who  became  botanist 
to  the  King  of  Spain,  and  whose  Iter  Hispanicum  (Stockholm, 
1758.)  relates  particularly  to  the  plants  of  that  country.  He 
follows  Clusius  in  supposing  the  Spartum  of  Pliny  to  be  the 
Stipa  Tenacissima  of  Linnaeus.  He  mentions,  that  its  stem  is 
two  or  three  feet  high,  with  leaves  so  long,  thin,  tough,  and 
convoluted,  that  they  are  admirably  adapted  for  the  purposes 
to  which  they  are  applied.  He  adds,  "  Hispanis  nominatur 
Esparto.  Usus  hujus  frequentissimus  per  universam  Hispani- 
am  ad  storeas  ob  pavimenta  lateritia  per  hyemem :  ad  funes 
crassiores  pxo  navibus  ad  que  corbes  et  alia  utensilia  pro  trans- 
portandis  fractibus."  (p.  119.) 

Pliny's  remark,  that  the  Spartum,  of  which  he  speaks,  could 
not  be  sown  (qucs  non  queat  seri),  is  not  true  of  the  Spanish 
Broom  ;  but  this  is  of  little  importance  in  the  present  inquiry, 
because  it  is  coupled  with  the  remark,  that  nothing  else  could 
be  sown  in  the  same  situation  (nec  aliud  ihi  seri  aut  nasci 
potest) ;  a  remark,  which  is  totally  unfounded  in  fact.  The 
Spanish  Broom  would  unquestionably  be  propagated  by  its 
seed,  which  is  very  abundant. 

From  these  facts,  the  reader  will  have  no  difficulty  in  form- 
ing his  decision.  Notwithstanding  the  respect  due  to  the  au- 
thority of  Clusius,  into  which  that  of  all  the  subsequent  writers 


*  Carter's  Journey,  vol.  ii.  p.  414,  415. 


208 


SPARTUM  OR  SPANISH  BROOM  I 


seems  to  resolve  itself,  it  appears  to  us  that  the  evidence  pre- 
ponderates against  the  use  of  Stipa  Tenacissima  for  making 
cloth  in  ancient  times,  and  points  to  the  conclusion,  that  the 
coarse  garments,  to  which  Pliny  alludes,  were  fabricated  from 
the  fibrous  rind  of  Spartium  Junceum. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  facts  in  the  geography  of  plants 
is  the  frequent  substitution  in  one  country,  of  a  plant  of  a  cer- 
tain natural  order  for  another  of  the  same  natural  order  in  an- 
other country.  The  Indians  have  a  plant,  bearing  a  very  close 
and  striking  resemblance  to  the  Spartium  Junceum,  which 
they  employ  just  as  the  natives  of  Bas  Languedoc  employ  that 
plant.  We  refer  to  the  Crotalaria  Juncea,  called  by  the  natives 
Goni,  Danapu,  or  Shanapu,  and  by  us  the  Sun-plant,  or  Indian 
Hemp.  From  the  bark  are  made  all  kinds  of  ropes,  pack- 
ing-cloths, sacks,  nets,  &c.  In  order  to  improve  the  fibre,  the 
plants  are  sown  as  close  as  possible  and  thus  draw  up  to  the 
height  of  about  ten  feet.  According  to  Dr.  Francis  Buchanan, 
the  plant  thrives  best  on  a  poor  sandy  soil,  and  requires  to  be 
abundantly  watered.  After  being  cut  down  it  is  spread  out  to 
the  sun  and  dried.  The  seed  is  beaten  out  by  striking  the 
pods  with  a  stick.  After  this  the  stems  are  tied  up  in  large 
bundles,  about  twelve  feet  in  circumference,  and  are  preserved 
in  stacks  or  under  sheds.  When  wanted,  the  stems  are  mace- 
rated during  six  or  eight  days.  They  are  known  to  be  ready, 
when  the  bark  separates  easily  from  the  pith.  "  The  plant  is 
then  taken  out  of  the  water,  and  a  man,  taking  it  up  by  hand- 
fuls,  beats  them  on  the  ground,  and  occasionally  washes  them 
until  they  be  clean  ;  and  at  the  same  time  picks  out  with  his 
hand  the  remainder  of  the  pith,  until  nothing  except  the  bark 
be  left.  This  is  then  dried,  and  being  taken  up  by  handfuls, 
is  beaten  with  a  stick  to  separate  and  clean  the  fibres.  The 
hemp  is  then  completely  ready,  and  is  spun  into  thread  on  a 
spindle,  both  by  the  men  and  women.  The  men  alone  weave 
it,  and  perform  this  labor  in  the  open  air  with  a  very  rude 
loom."  The  fabric  made  from  it  is  a  coarse,  but  very  strong 
sack-cloth. 

"  The  fibres,  when  prepared,"  says  Ironside,  "  are  so  similar 


ITS  FITNESS  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH. 


209 


to  hemp,  that  Europeans  generally  suppose  them  to  be  the 
produce  of  the  same  plant*." 

Theophrastust  (Hist.  PI.  viii.  13.)  gives  the  following  account 
of  a  bulbous  plant,  called  by  him  BoX/?i$  fyto^oj,  the  root  of 
which  supplied  materials  for  weaving: — "It  grows  in  bays, 
and  has  the  wool  under  the  first  coats  of  the  bulb  so  as  to  be 
between  the  inner  eatable  part  and  the  outer.  Socks  and  other 
garments  are  woven  from  it.  Hence  this  kind  is  woolly,  and 
not  hairy,  like  that  in  India." 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  what  plant  is  meant,  though  the 
description  seems  accurate  and  scientific.  Billerbeck  absurdly 
supposes  it  to  be  cotton-grasst  By  former  botanists,  men  of 
great  eminence,  it  was  supposed  to  be  Scilla  Hyacinthoides. 
Sprengel  objects,  that  this  species  does  not  grow  in  Greecei 
Sir  James  Smith  however  (article  Scilla  in  Rees's  Cyclop.) 
represents  it  as  growing  in  Madeira,  Portugal,  and  the  Levant. 
If  this  account  be  true,  Theophrastus  may  have  been  acquaint- 
ed with  it.  In  another  article,  Eriophorus,  Sir  J.  Smith  doubts 
whether  either  Scilla  Hyacinthoides  or  any  other  bulb  produces 
wool  of  such  quality  and  in  such  quantity  as  to  answer  the 
description  of  Theophrastus.    But,  we  learn  from  other  well- 


*  Account  of  the  culture  and  uses  of  the  Son-  or  Sun-plant  of  Hindostan  by 
Ironside,  in  the  Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  lxiv. :  Dr.  F.  Buchanan's  Journey,  vol.  i.  226, 
227,  291. ;  vol.  ii.  227,  235. :  Wissett  on  Hemp,  passim. :  Roxburgh's  Flora  Indica, 
vol.  iii.  p.  259-263. 

The  genus  Lupinus  {the  Lupin),  belonging  to  the  same  natural  order  as  Spar- 
tium  and  Crotalaria,  might  probably  afford  materials  of  the  same  kind.  Mr. 
Strange  (Lettera,  &c.  p.  70.)  mentions  the  filamentous  substance  of  the  Lupin  as 
adapted  for  making  paper. 

t  "  Theophrastus  relates,  that  there  is  a  kind  of  bulb  growing  about  the  banks  of 
rivers,  and  that  between  its  outer  rind  and  the  part  of  it  which  is  eaten  there  is  a 
woolly  substance,  out  of  which  they  make  certain  kinds  of  socks  and  cloths.  But 
in  tin  copies  which  I  have  found,  he  neither  mentions  in  what  country  this  is 
done,  nor  anything  else  with  greater  exactness,  except  that  the  bulb  is  called 
eriophoros ;  nor  does  he  make  any  mention  at  all  of  spartum,  although  he  exam- 
ined the  whole  subject  with  great  care  390  years  before  my  time,  as  I  have  ob- 
served in  another  place  (Viz.,  lib.  xv.  1.),  from  which  circumstance  it  appears, 
that  spartum  came  into  use  since  that  time." 

t  Flora  Classica,  p.  20. 

§  German  translation  of  Theophrastus,  Notes,  vol.  ii.  p.  283. 

27 


210 


\  * SPARTUM  OR  SPANISH  BROOM  I 


informed  botanists,  that  various  bulbs  have  under  the  outer- 
most coats  a  copious  tissue  of  tough  fibres,  fully  sufficient  to 
be  employed  in  weaving.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with 
the  genera  Amaryllis,  Crinum,  and  Pancratium,  as  well  as 
Scilla.  The  fibrous  coats  serve  as  a  protection  to  the  interior 
and  more  vital  parts  of  the  bulb. 

Hoffmansegg  and  Link,  who  travelled  in  Portugal,  in  the  de- 
scription of  Scilla  Hyacinthoides,  say,  "  Bulbus  tomento  viscoso 
tectus*." 

Sonnini  says  of  the  Scilla  Maritima,  "The  Greeks  of  the 
Archipelago  call  it  Kourvara-skilla,  kourvara  signifying  proper- 
ly <a  tuft  of  thread'  (peloton  defit\).n  Does  this  refer  to  the 
fibres  mentioned  by  Theophrastus  ?  The  size  of  this  bulb, 
which  is  the  common  squill,  used  in  pharmacy,  seems  to  favor 
this  supposition.  It  is  often  as  large  as  a  man's  headt  Hoff- 
mansegg and  Link§  say  it  grows  abundantly  on  barren  hills 
in  Spain  and  Portugal;  but  add,  "The  name  maritima  is 
not  quite  proper :  for  the  plant  is  seldom  met  with  near  the 
sea-shore,  and  sometimes  very  remote  from  it."  On  the  other 
hand,  it  must  have  been  so  called,  because  it  was  reported  by 
others  to  grow  on  the  sea-shore ;  and  Sir  James  Smith  (in 
Rees's  Cyclopedia)  expressly  states,  that  it  grows  on  "  sandy 
shores."    Redoute  says  the  same. 

From  the  account  of  Pancratium  by  Sir  James  Edward 
Smith  (in  Rees^s  Cyclop.),  we  learn  that  two  species  grow  in 
Greece,  viz.  P.  Maritimum  and  Illyricum. 

The  remarks  now  offered  appear  to  prove,  that  there  certain- 
ly may  have  been  a  bulb,  such  as  Theophrastus  describes, 
though  we  have  not  sufficient  information  to  decide  its  genus 
and  species.    It  may  have  been  the  Scilla  Maritima. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  he  refers  also  to  an  Indian  bulb, 
having  similar  properties.   Perhaps  he  alluded  to  some  plant  of 


*  Annals  of  Botany,  by  Konig  and  Sims,  Lond.  1805,  vol  i.  p  101. 
t  Voyage  en  Grece,  torn.  i.  ch.  14.  p.  295. 

t  "  Bulbus  ovatus,  tunicatus,  crassitie  fere  capitis  humam"  Desfontaines' 
Flora  Atlantica,  torn.  i.  p.  297. 
§  An.  of  Bot.  vol.  i.  p.  101. 


ITS  FITNESS  FOR  MAKING  Cn&Erlfo .  2H. 

a  kind  similar  to  Agave  Vivipara,  the  leaves  of  wmclPSCfe  ex- 
tensively used  in  India  for  making  cordage*. 

We  cannot  better  conclude  this  part  of  the  subject,  than  by 
giving  the  following  interesting  communication  of  Dr.  Daniel 
Stebbins,  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  to  the  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth, 
a  gentleman  who  has,  in  our  opinion,  rendered  most  valuable 
services,  not  only  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  but  to  the 
world  at  large,  since  his  appointment  to  the  office  of  Commis- 
sioner of  Patents. 


Northampton,  Hampshire  County,  Mass. 

"  Dear  Sir :  The  favorable  notice  of  silk  culture  in  document 
No.  109,  from  the  Patent  Office  report  of  February,  1843,  is  my 
apology  for  presenting  the  enclosed  samples  of  paper,  made  of 
mulberry  foliage  and  bark.  Unfortunately,  the  external  cuticle 
of  the  bark  had  not  been  removed ;  producing  the  spots,  but 
does  not  injure  the  paper  for  the  use  intended,  which  was  for 
the  purpose  of  depositing  silk-worms'  eggs  upon  something 
dark ;  and  this  being  unbleached,  is  considered  adapted  to  the 
habits  of  the  silk-worm,  and  is  now  in  successful  experiment. 

"  The  four  samples  are  all  of  one  batch  ;  the  darkest,  having 
more  of  the  outside  cuticle,  was  most  buoyant,  rose  to  the  top 
and  came  off  first. 

"  A  quantity  of  genuine  Canton  foliage,  which  retains  its 
verdure  in  greater  perfection  and  later  than  any  other  mulberry, 
is  gathered,  dried,  and  sent  to  the  mill  for  making  paper, 
bleached,  without  spots,  fit  for  cotton  paper,  as  hoped  ;  and,  if 
successful,  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  sending  you  a  sample,  to  be 
preserved  with  the  enclosed. 

"  I  began,  some  ten  or  twelve  years  since,  to  bring  silk  cul- 
ture into  notice  among  the  members  of  the  Hampshire  Agricul- 
tural Society,  believing  that  if  we  tried  the  right  kind  of  trees, 
(such  as  used  in  China,)  we  could  raise  silk,  yet  could  not  af- 
ford to  pay  $1  per  tree,  as  then  asked  for  multicaulis  ;  not  re- 
flecting how  easily  they  could  be  propagated  by  cuttings  and 
layers.    Under  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  wrote  to  the  Rev.  E. 


*  Dr.  F.  Buchanan's  Journey  in  Mysore,  &c.  i.  ]>.  36 


212  SPARTUM  OR  SPANISH  BROOM  I 

C.  Bridgman,  missionary  at  Canton,  China,  a  native  of  Hamp- 
shire county,  with  the  request  that  he  would  procure  and  for- 
ward me  some  mulberry  seed  of  the  most  approved  kind  for 
growing  in  China,  for  the  use  of  members  of  the  agricultural 
society.  He  promptly  attended  to  the  request ;  the  seed  was 
forwarded  and  sown  in  the  spring  of  1834  or  1835.  It  grew 
finely,  and  developed  a  splendid  leaf. 

"About  two  years  since,  while  Dr.  Parker,  with  a  Chinaman, 
was  here  on  a  visit,  on  being  shown  the  Canton  foliage,  it  was 
readily  recognized.  As  the  trees  had  grown  here  very  luxuri- 
antly, and  developed  a  larger  leaf  than  in  China,  Dr.  Parker 
suggested  that  our  soil  might  be  more  congenial  to  the  plant 
than  even  China,  its  native  soil. 

"  Soon  after  receiving  the  seed  from  Canton,  a  friend  sent 
me  another  parcel  from  the  South  of  Asia,  with  high  commen- 
dations, that  if  it  would  grow  here,  it  would  be  of  essential  ben- 
efit to  the  United  States  for  raising  silk.  It  succeeded  well,  and 
is  more  hardy  than  the  white  mulberry,  very  productive  in 
small  branches,  and  a  good-sized  leaf.  I  named  the  latter 
Asiatic  Canton.  These  two  kinds  are  highly  approved  of  for 
feeding  silk-worms — the  Canton  for  leaf-feeding,  and  the  Asi- 
atic for  branch  feeding.  I  have,  however,  almost  every  variety 
which  was  cultivated  during  the  mulberry  speculation — cover- 
ing, altogether,  some  ten  or  twelve  acres,  besides  a  large  number 
of  young  Canton  and  Asiatic  seedlings,  of  this  year's  sowing, 
from  seed  of  my  own  raising,  to  enlarge  the  plantations. 

"  A  few  days  since,  the  Rev.  William  Richards,  of  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  with  the  young  prince,  called  on  me.  At  a  for- 
mer visit,  I  had  supplied  him  with  Canton  mulberry-seed,  silk- 
worms' eggs,  and  dry  mulberry  foliage  to  use  in  case  the  eggs 
should  hatch  on  the  passage ;  but  this  they  did  not  do  until  his 
arrival  home.  About  the  same  time,  other  eggs  had  been  re- 
ceived there  from  China;  but  the  cocoons  raised  from  them 
were  not  one  quarter  as  large  as  the  American,  and  must  have 
required  some  10,000  to  12,000  to  make  a  pound  of  silk,  while 
in  America  2,400  to  3,000  would  make  a  pound. 

"  Mr.  Titcomb,  also  a  silk-grower  in  one  of  the  islands,  having 
the  American  and  Chinese,  crossed  them :  but  the  crossing 


ITS  FITNESS  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH. 


213 


produced  cocoons  so  small  as  to  require  from  5,000  to  6,000  to 
make  a  pound  of  silk,  while  not  over  3,000  of  the  American 
would  be  required  to  do  the  same  thing(!). 

"  Mr.  Richards  was  shown  several  pamphlets,  newspapers, 
cap  and  writing  paper,  supposed  to  have  been  made  of  mul- 
berry bark.  He  said  rags  were  not  used  in  India*,  China,  or 
the  islands,  for  making  paper,  but  they  always  make  it  of  some 
vegetable  leaf ;  that  the  bark  was  too  valuable  for  that,  and 
was  used  to  make  fabrics.  (See  Chapters  XL  and  XIL  of 
this  Part.    Also  Appendix  A.) 

u  We,  as  Americans,  have  the  appropriate  soil  and  climate  for 
the  Canton  and  Asiatic  mulberry,  with  the  pea-nut  variety  of 
worms,  which,  being  managed  with  due  care  and  attention, 
together  with  the  skill,  ingenuity,  and  perseverance  of  Ameri- 
cans— and,  in  addition,  and  could  we  have  the  aid  of  our  country 
to  encourage  new  beginners — we  might  hope  to  compete  with 
any  nation  in  the  production  of  silk,  their  cheap  labor  and 
cheap  living  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  There  is  abun- 
dant evidence  that  worms  fed  exclusively  on  the  Canton  mul- 
berry have  been  larger,  and  produced  heavier  cocoons,  by  one- 
third  in  size  of  worms  and  weight  of  cocoons,  than  by  other 


*  Abdollatiph  who  visited  Egypt  A.  D.  1200,  informs  us  (Chapter  iv.  p.  188  of 
Silvestre  de  Sacy's  French  translation,  p.  221  of  Wahl's  German  translation.), 
"  that  the  cloth,  rags,  $c.  found  in  the  catacombs,  and  used  to  envelope  the 
mummies,  was  made  into  garments,  or  sold  to  the  scribes  to  make  paper  for 
shop-keepers."  This  cloth  is  proved  to  be  linen  (See  Part  IV.  p.  365),  and  the 
passage  of  Abdollatiph  may  be  considered  as  decisive  proof,  which  however  has 
never  been  produced  as  such,  of  the  manufacture  of  linen  paper  as  early  as  the 
year  1200.  Professor  Tychsen  in  his  learned  and  curious  dissertation  on  the  use 
of  paper  from  Papyrus  (published  in  the  Commentationes  Reg.  Soc.  Gottingensis 
Recentiores,  vol.  iv.  A.  D.  1820),  has  brought  abundant  testimonies  to  prove  that 
Egypt  supplied  all  Europe  with  this  kind  of  paper  until  towards  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century.  The  use  of  it  was  then  abandoned,  cotton  paper  being  em- 
ployed instead.  The  Arabs  in  consequence  of  their  conquests  in  Bucharia,  had 
learnt  the  art  of  making  cotton  paper  about  the  year  704,  and  through  them  or 
the  Saracens  it  was  introduced  into  Europe  in  the  eleventh  century.  Another 
fact  should  not  be  lost  sight  of,  namely,  "  that  most  of  the  old  MSS.  in  Arabic 
and  other  oriental  languages  are  written  on  this  sort  of  paper,"  and  that  it  was 
first  introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Saracens  of  Spain.  (For  further  proof,  see 
Appendix  A.    Also  Part  IV.  already  referred  to.) 


214 


SPARTUM  OR  SPANISH   BROOM  : 


feed.  I  have  supplied  an  order  of  the  peanut  variety  of  eggs, 
to  go  to  Guatemala  ;  and  Canton  seed,  of  my  own  raising,  to 
go  to  Rio  ;  and  now  have  an  order  for  a  number  of  the  genu- 
ine Canton  mulberry  trees,  roots,  or  cuttings,  to  go  to  Lima, 
where  the  applicant  went  on  business,  a  few  years  since,  taking 
with  him  a  few  multicaules,  at  $2  each — now  multiplied  to 
50,000 ;  who,  without  any  practical  knowledge  of  raising  trees, 
reeling  and  manufacturing  silk,  or  having  seen  a  silk-worm  or 
reel  until  he  introduced  them  in  1843,  has  now  presented  me 
with  beautiful  samples  of  floss  cocoons,  reeled  and  sewing  silk, 
done  by  ladies  as  a  diversion,  without  any  assistance,  and  very 
little  instruction  from  him.  The  silk  is  of  good  quality.  Sam- 
ples had  been  sent  by  a  mercantile  house  in  Lima  to  England, 
for  an  opinion  of  the  quality ;  but  no  return  had  been  received 
when  he  came  away.  He  has  come  to  this  place  with  a  native 
Spaniard,  to  obtain  more  perfect  information  in  all  the  branches 
of  reeling,  twisting,  coloring(i),  &c. ;  to  procure  machinery, 
with  a  view  of  enlarging  operations,  so  that  he  might  turn  off 
twenty-five  pounds  per  day  of  sewings,  cords,  braids,  &c.  He 
represents  the  climate  and  soil  as  adapted  to  the  culture  of  silk, 
and  could  feed  every  month  in  the  year  ;  that  the  necessaries 
of  living  are  procured  with  but  little  labor ;  that  the  laboring 
population  are  indolent,  the  wealthy  classes  too  proud  to  labor. 
He  feels  confident  of  success,  and  that  he  can  introduce  habits 
of  industry  by  silk  culture,  that  would  counteract  their  natural 
indolence ;  and  he  will  inform  me  of  his  success  in  due  time, 
that  may  be  more  interesting  than  speculations  upon  what  he 
intends  doing.  He  has  engaged  several  to  perfect  themselves  in 
reeling,  <fec,  to  accompany  him  when  he  returns  to  Lima  with 
his  machinery.  He  has  become  so  satisfied  with  the  superiority 
of  the  genuine  Canton  mulberry,  that  he  has  engaged  to  take 
it  on  with  him  for  propagation  and  use. 

"  I  have  letters  from  widely  different  locations,  rendering  fa- 
vorable accounts  of  this  year's  success  in  growing  silk,  and  in 
corroboration  of  the  prevalent  opinion  that  the  silk  cause  will 
finally  prevail.  I  have  several  letters  on  this  subject — one 
from  a  gentleman  presiding  over  one  of  our  most  eminent  liter- 


ITS  FITNESS  FOR  MAKING  CLOTH. 


215 


ary  institutions,  under  date  of  June,  1844.  Discoursing  about 
the  culture  of  silk,  he  writes  as  follows : 

"  '  If  this  earnest  waking  up  to  a  scientific  and  practical  con- 
sideration of  the  subject  be  not  soon  crowned  with  signal  suc- 
cess, it  will  not  be  for  want  of  enterprize  or  skill  in  our  country- 
men, but  merely  from  the  high  price  of  labor  here,  compared 
with  the  scanty  wages  given  in  other  silk-growing  countries. 
Even  this  consideration,  though  it  may  retard  for  a  while  the 
complete  success  of  this  department  of  productive  industry,  will 
not  prevent  its  ultimate  triumph? 

"Another  gentleman,  under  date  of  August,  1844,  writes 
from  the  far  West,  1  that  the  soil  and  climate  of  the  Western 
and  South-western  States  are  admirably  suited  to  the  growth 
of  the  mulberry  and  raising  silk-worms,'  and  that L  eventually 
the  two  great  staples  of  the  Western  and  South-western  States 
will  be  silk  and  wool?  It  is  the  opinion  of  competent  skilful 
silk  manufacturers,  who  have  made  critical  experiments  upon 
the  Pongee-silk  (so  called)  of  foreign  make,  by  tests  which  they 
consider  satisfactory  and  decisive,  that  it  is  only  a  vegetable 
production,  and  that  the  material  was  never  operated  upon  by 
the  silk-worm(l).  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  about  the 
ultimate  success  of  silk-culture  in  some  future  years ;  but  to 
accelerate  that  desirable  event,  which  may  constitute  an  import- 
ant American  staple  for  revenue  (which  might  not  only  enrich 
the  Government,  but  reward  the  labor  of  personal  enterprize), 
a  bounty  is  deemed  necessary  to  stimulate  and  encourage  that 
portion  of  the  agricultural  population  whose  circumstances  or 
health  disqualifies  them  for  the  more  laborious  exercises  of  the 
fields,  to  commence  operations  upon  a  new  and  untried  crop. 
Our  extensive  imports  of  raw  and  manufactured  silks  are  en- 
couraged by  us  as  consumers,  instead  of  being  producers.  We 
now  contribute  to  support  foreign  enterprize  and  industry,  to 
produce  the  article  of  silk,  which  we  might,  with  proper  encour- 
agement, raise  ourselves,  not  only  for  our  own  consumption,  but 
for  exportation." 

Very  respectfully,  yours,  &c. 
Henry  L.  Ellsworth,  Esq.,  Daniel  Stebbins. 

Commissioner  of  Patents. 


216 


SPARTUM  OR  SPANISH  BROOM. 


The  amount  of  silk  imported  into  the  United  States  annu- 
ally, nearly  equals  that  of  linen  and  woollen  together,  and  is 
equal  to  one  half  of  all  other  fabrics  combined.  Is  it  not  then, 
an  important  consideration,  that  this  expenditure  be  saved  to 
the  nation? 


PART  SECOND, 
ORIGIN  AND  ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  SHEER 


CHAPTER  I. 
SHEEP'S  WOOL. 


SHEEP-BREEDING  AND  PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  ILLUS- 
TRATIONS OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

The  Shepherd  Boy — Sheep-breeding  in  Scythia  and  Persia — Mesopotamia  and 
Syria — In  Idumaea  and  Northern  Arabia — In  Palestine  and  Egypt — In  Ethio- 
pia and  Libya — In  Caucasus  and  Coraxi — The  Coraxi  identified  with  the 
modern  Caratshai — In  Asia  Minor,  Pisidia,  Pamphylia,  Samos,  &c. — In  Caria 
and  Ionia — Milesian  wool — Sheep-breeding  in  Thrace,  Magnesia,  Thessaly, 
Euboea,  and  Boeotia — In  Phocis,  Attica,  and  Megaris — In  Arcadia — Worship 
of  Pan — Pan  the  god  of  the  Arcadian  Shepherds — Introduction  of  his  worship 
into  Attica — Extension  of  the  worship  of  Pan — His  dances  with  the  nymphs — 
Pan  not  the  Egyptian  Mendes,  but  identical  with  Faunus — The  philosophical 
explanation  of  Pan  rejected — Moral,  social,  and  political  state  of  the  Arcadians 
— Polybius  on  the  cultivation  of  music  by  the  Arcadians — Worship  of  Mercury 
in  connection  with  sheep-breeding  and  the  wool  trade — Present  state  of  Arca- 
dia— Sheep-breeding  in  Macedonia  and  Epirus — Shepherds'  dogs — Annual 
migration  of  Albanian  shepherds. 

THE  SHEPHERD  BOY. 

The  rain  was  pattering  o'er  the  low  thatch'd  shed 
That  gave  us  shelter.    There  was  a  shepherd  boy, 
Stretching  his  lazy  limbs  on  the  rough  straw, 
In  vacant  happiness.    A  tatter'd  sack 
Cover'd  his  sturdy  loins,  while  his  rude  legs 
Were  deck'd  with  uncouth  patches  of  all  hues, 
Iris  and  jet,  through  which  his  sun-burnt  skin 
Peep'd  forth  in  dainty  contrast.    He  was  a  glory 
For  painter's  eye  ;  and  his  quaint  draperies 
Would  harmonize  with  some  fair  sylvan  scene, 

28 


218 


SHEEP   BREEDING  AND 


Where  arching  groves,  and  flower-embroider'd  banks, 

Verdant  with  thymy  grass,  tempted  the  sheep 

To  scramble  up  their  height,  while  he,  reclin'd 

Upon  the  pillowing  moss,  lay  listlessly 

Through  the  long  summer's  day.    Not  such  as  he, 

In  plains  of  Thessaly,  as  poets  feign, 

W ent  piping  forth  at  the  first  gleam  of  morn, 

And  in  their  bowering  thickets  dreamt  of  joy, 

And  innocence,  and  love.    Let  the  true  lay 

Speak  thus  of  the  poor  hind : — His  indolent  gaze 

Reck'd  not  of  natural  beauties  ;  his  delights 

Were  gross  and  sensual :  not  the  glorious  sun, 

Rising  above  his  hills,  and  lighting  up 

His  woods  and  pastures  with  a  joyous  beam, 

To  him  was  grandeur ;  not  the  reposing  sound 

Of  tinkling  flocks  cropping  the  tender  shoots, 

To  him  was  music  ;  not  the  blossomy  breeze 

That  slumbers  in  the  honey-dropping  bean-flower, 

To  him  was  fragrance :  he  went  plodding  on 

His  long-accustomed  path  ;  and  when  his  cares 

Of  daily  duties  were  o'erpass'd,  he  ate, 

And  laugh'd,  and  slept,  with  a  most  drowsy  mind. 

Dweller  in  cities,  scorn'st  thou  the  shepherd  boy, 

Who  never  look'd  within  to  find  the  eye 

For  Nature's  glories  ?    Know,  his  slumbering  spirit 

Struggled  to  pierce  the  fogs  and  deepening  mists 

Of  rustic  ignorance  ;  but  he  was  bound 

With  a  harsh  galling  chain,  and  so  he  went 

Grovelling  along  his  dim  instinctive  way. 

Yet  thou  hadst  other  hopes  and  other  thoughts, 

But  the  world  spoil'd  thee  :  then  the  mutable  clouds, 

And  doming  skies,  and  glory-shedding  sun, 

And  tranquil  stars  that  hung  above  thy  head 

Like  angels  gazing  on  thy  crowded  path, 

To  thee  were  worthless,  and  thy  soul  forsook 

The  love  of  beauteous  fields,  and  the  blest  lore 

That  man  may  read  in  Nature's  book  of  truth. 

Despise  not,  then,  the  lazy  shepherd  boy: 

For  his  account  and  thine  shall  be  made  up, 

And  evil  cherish'd  and  occasion  lost 

May  cast  their  load  upon  thee,  while  his  spirit 

May  bud  and  bloom  in  a  more  sunny  sphere. 


The  inquiry  into  the  origin  and  propagation  of  sheep,  no 
than  of  the  silk-worm,  may  be  justly  regarded  as  a  subject 
the  deepest  interest.    For  the  management  and  use  of  the 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  219 

animals  has,  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  human  history,  formed 
a  striking  feature  in  the  condition  of  man.  Of  the  materials 
employed  by  the  ancients  for  making  cloth,  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant was  the  wool  of  sheep.  We  are  able  to  trace  with  great 
probability  the  process  of  sheep-breeding  and  of  the  use  of  wool 
for  weaving.  Among  the  bones  of  quadrupeds,  found  in  an- 
cient caves  throughout  Europe,  we  cannot  find  on  consulting 
the  works  of  Cuvier,  Buckland,  and  De  la  Beche,  that  remains 
of  sheep  have  ever  been  discovered.  This  fact  affords  some 
reason  for  presuming,  that  the  sheep  is  not  a  native  of  Europe, 
but  has  been  introduced  there  by  man. 

It  appears  to  have  been  a  general  opinion  among  Zoologists, 
that  the  Argali,  or  Ovis  Ammon  of  Linnaeus,  which  inhabits 
in  vast  numbers  the  elevated  regions  of  Central  Asia,  is  the 
primitive  stock  of  the  whole  race  of  domesticated  sheep.  Agree- 
ably to  this  supposition  we  find,  that  from  the  earliest  times  the 
inhabitants  of  Tartary,  Persia,  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Palestine, 
and  the  North  of  Arabia,  have  been  addicted  to  pastoral  em- 
ployments. The  tribes  of  wandering  shepherds,  which  fre- 
quent those  countries,  are  descended  from  progenitors,  who  led 
the  same  life  thousands  of  years  ago,  and  whose  manners  and 
habits  are  preserved  to  the  present  day  with  scarcely  the  slight- 
est change. 

As  might  be  expected,  we  have  little  precise  information  re- 
specting the  Scythians,  who  inhabited  the  elevated  plains  of 
inner  Asia.  Some  of  their  hordes  are  distinguished  by  Herod- 
otus, Strabo,  and  others,  under  the  name  of  Nomadic  or  pas- 
toral  Scythians ;  and  that  this  denomination  was  understood 
to  imply,  that  they  tended  sheep  as  well  as  larger  cattle  may 
be  inferred  from  what  Herodotus  says  of  their  use  of  felt  (See 
Appendix  B.).  Strabo,  moreover,  says  of  a  particular  tribe  of 
the  Massagetee,  that  they  had  "  few  sheep,"  which  implies  that 
the  rest  were  rich  in  flocks  ;  and  of  another  tribe  he  says, 
"  They  do  not  till  the  ground,  but  derive  their  sustenance  from 
sheep  and  fish,  after  the  manner  of  the  Nomadic  Scythians*." 
But  a  much  more  distinct  account  of  the  manners  of  this  people 


*  Strabo,  1.  xi.  cap.  8.  p.  486.  ed.  Siebenkees. 


220 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


is  given  us  by  Justin,  who  says,  that  they  were  accustomed  to 
wander  through  uncultivated  solitudes,  always  employed  in 
tending  herds  and  flocks  {armenta  et  pecora).  He,  however, 
adds,  that  they  were  strangers  to  the  use  of  woollen  garments, 
being  clothed  in  skins  and  furs*.  Hence  it  appears,  that  they 
were  too  rude  and  ignorant  to  have  acquired  the  arts  of  spin- 
ning and  weaving. 

If  we  may  trust  to  the  authority  of  Strabo,  the  Medes  did 
not  tend  sheep ;  for  he  says  of  them,  Ci  They  eat  the  flesh  of 
wild  animals ;  they  do  not  bring  up  tame  cattlet."  Neverthe- 
less, their  southern  neighbors,  the  Persians,  with  whom  they 
were  united  under  one  government,  had  sheep  in  abundance. 
These  animals  are  strikingly  represented  in  the  bas-reliefs  of 
Persepolis.  In  one  of  them,  which  represents  a  long  proces- 
sion sculptured  on  the  wall  of  a  splendid  staircase,  two  rams, 
attended  by  keepers,  are  accompanied  in  the  same  train  by 
horses,  asses,  camels,  and  oxenj.  Herodotus,  in  his  account  of 
the  manners  and  institutions  of  the  Persians  (L.  i.  cap.  133.), 
mentions  all  these  animals  together  in  the  following  passage  : 
"Of  all  days  they  are  accustomed  to  observe  most  that  on 
which  each  individual  was  born.  On  this  day  they  set  before 
their  guests  a  more  abundant  feast  than  on  any  other.  The 
wealthy  provide  an  ox,  a  horse,  a  camel,  and  an  ass,  roasted 
whole  in  furnaces ;  and  the  poor  provide  the  smaller  cattle." 
By  " the  smaller  cattle"  this  author  always  means  sheep  and 
goats. 

The  superior  excellence  of  the  rich  plains  of  Mesopotamia  for 
the  pasture  of  sheep  as  well  as  oxen,  is  attested  by  Dionysius 
Periegetes§,  and  his  account  illustrates  in  an  interesting  man- 
ner the  history  of  Jacob  as  contained  in  the  book  of  Genesis, 


*  Justin,  1.  ii.  cap.  2.  t  Strabo,  1.  xi.  cap  8.  p.  567. 

t  See  Ancient  Universal  History,  vol.  vi.  plates  6.  8. 
§  Over,  6'  Ev<ppfjrov,  &c.  L  992-996. 
In  English, 

"  As  for  the  land,  which  lies  between  the  Euphrates>and  the  Tigris,  called  the 
land  Between  the  Rivers,  the  herdsman  would  not  contemn  its  pastures,  nor  he 
who  tends  flocks  folded  in  the  fields,  and  honors  with  his  syrinx  Pan  who  has 
homy  hoofs." 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


221 


the  rapid  multiplication  of  the  flocks  and  herds  showing  how 
well  the  soil  and  climate  were  adapted  to  this  pursuit,  and  how 
well  the  business  of  tending  them  was  there  understood  from 
the  earliest  times.  Seldom  do  we  find  in  any  ancient  author 
so  beautiful  a  picture  as  is  presented  to  us,  when  Jacob  arrives 
at  Padan-aram,  and  sees  the  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  assem- 
bling from  the  neighboring  pastures  in  the  evening  to  be  wa- 
tered at  the  well.  Rachel  appears  conducting  the  flock  of  her 
father  Laban,  which  she  tended,  and  Jacob  rolls  from  the 
mouth  of  the  well  the  stone,  which  was  placed  to  preserve  the 
water  cool  and  fresh,  and  assists  his  relative  and  future  bride 
in  watering  her  sheep.  (Gen.  xxix.  1-10.)  Also  on  Jacob's 
departure  his  remonstrance  with  Laban  presents  to  us  an  ani- 
mated representation  of  the  duties  and  difficulties  of  the  shep- 
herd's life ;  "  These  twenty  years  have  I  been  with  thee  ;  thy 
ewes  and  thy  she-goats  have  not  cast  their  young,  and  the 
rams  of  thy  flock  have  I  not  eaten.  That  which  was  torn  of 
beasts  I  brought  not  unto  thee  ;  I  bare  the  loss  of  it :  of  my 
hand  didst  thou  'require  it,  whether  stolen  by  day,  or  stolen  by 
night.  Thus  I  was  ;  in  the  day  the  drought  consumed  me, 
and  the  frost  by  night ;  and  my  sleep  departed  from  mine 
eyes."   (Gen.  xxxi.  38-40.) 

From  Ezekiel  we  learn,  that  Damascus  supplied  the  Tyrians 
with  wool*,  and  Jerome,  who  well  knew  the  country,  says  in 
his  comment  on  the  passage,  that  this  article  was  still  produced 
there  in  his  time  (A.  D.  378. )t.     Aristotle,  referring  to  the 


*  "  Damascus  was  thy  merchant  in  the  multitude  of  the  wares  of  thy  making, 
for  the  multitude  of  all  riches ;  in  the  wine  of  Helbon,  and  white  wool.  Dan 
also  and  Javan  going  to  and  fro  occupied  in  thy  fairs :  bright  iron,  cassia,  and 
calamus,  were  in  thy  market.  Dedan  was  thy  merchant  in  precious  clothes  for 
chariots.  Arabia,  and  all  the  princes  of  Kedar,  they  occupied  with  thee  in 
lambs,  and  rams,  and  goats :  in  these  were  they  thy  merchants.  The  merchants 
of  Shebah  and  Raamah,  they  were  thy  merchants :  they  occupied  in  thy  fairs 
with  chief  of  all  spices,  and  with  all  precious  stones,  and  gold.  Haran,  and  Can- 
neh,  and  Eden,  the  merchants  of  Sheba,  Asshur,  and  Chilmad,  were  thy  mer- 
chants. These  were  thy  merchants  in  all  sorts  of  things,  in  blue  clothes,  and 
broidered  work,  and  in  chests  of  rich  apparel,  bound  with  cords,  and  made  of 
cedar,  among  thy  merchandise." — Ezekiel  xxvii.  18-24. 

t  "  Et  lana  pnecipua,  quod  usque  hodie  cernimus." 


222 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


sheep  of  Syria,  mentions  a  variety  with  tails,  which  were  a 
cubit  broad* ;  and  Pliny  in  addition  to  this  circumstance  asserts 
generally  the  abundance  of  the  Syrian  woolf.  Probably  the 
part  of  Syria  appropriated  more  especially  to  the  breeding  of 
sheep,  was  the  eastern  part,  which  bordered  on  Arabia,  and 
was  distinguished  by  the  same  natural  features. 

In  no  part  of  the  ancient  world  does  sheep-breeding  appear 
to  have  been  more  cultivated  than  in  that  which  we  are  now 
approaching.  Here  were  the  Moabites,  among  whom  it  was  a 
royal  occupation,  and,  as  it  appears,  the  chief  source  of  the 
revenues  of  the  sovereign  :  for  it  is  said  in  2  Kings  iii.  4. 
"  Mesha,  king  of  Moab,  was  a  sheep-master,  and  rendered  unto 
the  king  of  Israel  an  hundred  thousand  lambs  and  an  hun- 
dred thousand  rams  with  the  wool."  Here  on  occasion  of  a 
war,  which  the  Reubenites,  the  Gadites,  and  the  half-tribe  of 
Manasseh,  whose  territory  was  to  the  east  of  Jordan,  carried  on 
against  the  Hagarites,  they  obtained  as  part  of  their  booty 
250,000  sheep.  (I.  Chron.  v.  21.)  Here  was  Idumsea,  in  a 
part  of  which  Job  is  represented  to  have  dwelt,  being  possessed 
of  7,000,  and  afterwards  of  14,000  sheep  (Job  i.  3.  xlii.  12.) : 
and  we  have  a  beautiful  allusion  to  the  pastoral  habits  of  the 
same  country  in  the  language  of  consolation  employed  by  the 
prophet  Micah  (ii.  12.) ;  "  I  will  surely  assemble,  O  Jacob,  all 
of  thee ;  I  will  surely  gather  the  remnant  of  Israel ;  I  will 
put  them  together  as  the  sheep  of  Bosrah,  as  the  flock  in 
the  midst  of  their  fold  :  they  shall  make  great  noise  by 
reason  of  the  multitude  of  men."  Here  also  were  the  Midian- 
ites,  whose  flocks  were  so  vast,  that  the  sheep  taken  from  them 
by  Moses  after  his  victory  amounted  to  675,000.  (Num. 
xxxi.  32.)  Jethro,  the  priest  of  Midian,  was  himself  the  owner 
of  a  numerous  flock,  tended  by  his  seven  daughters,  whom 
Moses  assisted  in  watering  them,  when  the  neighboring  shep- 
herds rudely  attempted  to  drive  them  from  the  well.  He  after- 
wards married  one  of  them,  and  was  employed  by  the  father  as 
his  shepherd ;  and,  having  occasion  according  to  the  practice  of 


*  Hist.  Animalium,  1.  viii.  cap.  28. 

t  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  1.  viii.  c.  75.  ed.  Bipont.    See  Appendix  A. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


223 


the  country  to  conduct  the  flock  from  the  plains  to  pasture  upon 
the  mountains  of  Horeb,  he  was  thence  called  to  undertake  his 
extraordinary  mission  for  the  deliverance  of  his  nation.  (Exod. 
ii.  15— hi.  1.) 

The  Arabs  appear  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day 
to  have  bestowed  no  less  attention  upon  sheep  than  upon 
horses.  Isaiah  also  records  the  excellence  of  the  sheep  of  Ara- 
bia in  the  following  terms  addressed  by  the  Almighty  to  his 
people  (Ch.  lx.  7) :  "  All  the  flocks  of  Kedar  shall  be  gathered 
together  unto  thee,  the  rams  of  Nebaioth  shall  minister  unto 
thee :  they  shall  come  up  with  acceptance  on  mine  altar,  and  I 
will  glorify  the  house  of  my  glory."  The  habits  of  the  Neba- 
taei,  or  Arabs  of  Nebaioth,  are  depicted  as  follows  by  Diodorus 
Siculus :  "  They  live  in  the  open  air,  and  call  a  land  their 
country,  which  is  destitute  of  habitations,  and  has  neither  rivers 
nor  copious  fountains,  such  as  could  satisfy  an  army  of  inva- 
ders. Their  law  forbids  them  on  pain  of  death  either  to  sow 
corn,  to  plant  fruit-trees,  to  use  wine,  or  to  build  houses. 
They  submit  to  this  law,  because  they  think,  that  those  who 
enjoy  such  conveniences  may  for  the  sake  of  them  be  readily 
compelled  by  the  powerful  to  do  what  they  command.  Some 
of  them  rear  camels,  and  others  sheep,  wThich  they  pasture  in 
the  wilderness*." 

Various  ancient  authors  mention  that  extraordinary  variety 
of  sheep  among  the  Arabs,  the  tail  of  which  grew  to  so  great  a 
size  as  to  require  to  be  supported  on  a  wooden  carriage,  which 
was  dragged  after  the  wearert. 

We  have  no  reason  to  believe,  that  the  Phoenicians  employed 
themselves  in  the  breeding  and  pasture  of  sheep.  The  narrow 
strip  of  territory,  which  they  occupied  at  the  eastern  extremity 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  was  in  general  too  densely  peopled 
to  be  adapted  for  this  purpose.    Their  activity,  intelligence, 


*  Diod.  Sic.  1.  xix.  94.  p.  722.  ed.  Steph. 

Strabo  (I.  xvi.  cap.  4.  p.  460.  ed.  Siebenkees.),  speaking  apparently  of  another 
division  of  the  Nebatoei,  says  they  have  large  oxen,  camels,  and  white  sheep. 

t  The  passages  of  ancient  authors  relating  to  this  variety,  with  various  confir- 
mations from  modern  travellers,  are  quoted  with  his  usual  accuracy  by  Bochart, 
Hieroz.  1.  ii.  cap.  45.  p.  494-497.  Ed.  Leusden.  Lug.  Bat.  1692. 


224 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


and  enterprize  were  directed  into  other  channels,  and  they  sup- 
plied themselves  from  foreign  countries  with  wool  for  their  cele- 
brated manufactures. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Hebrews,  who  were  the  immediate 
neighbors  of  the  Phoenicians,  were  altogether  an  agricultural  and 
pastoral  people.  The  history  of  the  patriarchs,  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  presents  to  us  b.eau.tiful  images  of  the  kind  of  life, 
which  still  continues  with  little  variation  among  the  Bedouins, 
or  wandering  Nomads  of  Arabia.  Not  only  was  David  a 
shepherd  boy  ;  but,  when  he  had  ascended  the  throne,  he  had 
numerous  herds  and  flocks  superintended  by  distinct  officers. 
"  And  over  the  herds  that  fed  in  Sharon  was  Shitrai  the  Sha- 
ronite :  and  over  the  herds  that  were  in  the  valleys  was  Sha- 
phat  the  son  of  Adlai.  Over  the  camels  also  was  Obil  the  Ish- 
maelite  :  and  over  the  asses  was  Jehdeiah  the  Meronothite  : 
and  over  the  flocks  was  Jaziz  the  Hagarite.  All  these  were 
the  rulers  of  the  substance  which  was  king  David's."  (I. 
Chron.  xxvii.  29-31.  The  reader  cannot  fail  to  call  to  mind 
David's  frequent  allusions  in  the  Psalms  to  those  employments, 
which  were  no  less  familiar  to  his  own  mind  than  to  the  rest 
of  his  countrymen,  and  which  supplied  to  them  the  most  touch- 
ing comparisons  for  the  expression  of  their  deepest  religious 
convictions.  The  passage  "  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd :  I  shall 
not  want.  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures :  he 
leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters.  Yea  though  I  walk  through 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil ;  for  thou 
art  with  me ;  thy  rod  (or  crook)  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort 
me"  (Psalm  xxiii.  1,  2,  4.).  "  He  shall  feed  (i.  e.  tend)  his 
flock  like  a  shepherd  ;  he  shall  gather  the  lambs  with  his  arm,, 
and  carry  them  in  his  bosom,  and  shall  gently  lead  those  that 
are  with  young"  (Is.  xl.  ii.).  "  The  pastures  are  clothed  with 
flocks,"  an  expression  denoting  the  vast  multitudes  of  sheep, 
which  overspread  the  mountains  and  plains  (Ps.  lxv,  13.). 
"Be  thou'  diligent,"  says  Solomon,  "to  know  the  state  of  thy 
flocks,  and  look  well  to  thy  herds.  The  lambs  are  for  thy 
clothing,  and  the  goats  are  the  price  of  thy  field ;  and  thou 
shalt  have  goat's  milk  enough  for  thy  food,  for  the  food  of  thy 
household,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  thy  maidens"  (Prov. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  225 

xxvii.  23.  26,  27.).  We  would  particularly  refer  the  reader  to 
the  thirty-fourth  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  where  the  prophet,  repri- 
manding the  rulers  of  Israel  under  the  character  of  shepherds, 
makes  some  allusion  to  every  circumstance  connected  with  the 
care  of  sheep  and  goats.  Language  very  similar  is  employed 
by  our  Saviour  in  John  x.  where  he  speaks  of  himself  as  "  the 
good  shepherd"  The  whole  system  and  history  of  the  sacri- 
fices both  before  and  after  the  giving  of  the  Mosaic  law,  might 
be  produced  to  prove  the  pastoral  habits  of  this  people  from  the 
earliest  times.  The  districts  of  Bashan  and  Carmel,  seem  to 
have  attained  the  highest  reputation  in  respect  to  the  breeding 
of  sheep.  Bashan,  which  lay  to  the  east  of  the  Jordan  in  the 
country  adjoining  that  of  the  Hagarites  and  Moabites,  already 
mentioned,  and  Carmel,  the  mountainous  range  near  the  Dead 
Sea  in  the  south  of  Judea.  In  the  latter  district  Nabal  kept 
his  flocks,  and  as  he  is  said  to  have  been  "  very  great,"  and  we 
are  at  the  same  time  informed  that  "  he  had  3000  sheep  and 
1000  goats"  (I.  Sam.  xxv.  2.),  these  numbers  afford  us  a  pre- 
cise idea  of  the  wealth  of  a  considerable  proprietor  in  this  re- 
spect. That  the  "  rams  of  the  breed  of  Bashan,"  were  particu- 
larly celebrated,  we  learn  from  Deut.  xxxii.  14 ;  and  Ezekiel 
mentions  with  distinction  (ch.  xxxix.  18.)  a  sacrifice  "  of  rams, 
of  lambs,  and  of  goats,  of  bullocks,  all  of  them  fatlings  of 
Bashan." 

It  is  impossible  to  conceive  a  more  striking  difference  in 
manners  and  institutions,  than  that  which  must  have  presented 
itself  to  the  traveller  in  very  ancient  times,  when  on  crossing  the 
Isthmus  of  Suez  he  passed  from  the  deserts  of  Arabia  and  Idumaea 
to  the  richly  cultivated  and  populous  plains  of  Egypt.  According 
to  the  statement  already  quoted  from  an  ancient  historian  the 
wandering  tribes  of  Nabaioth  were  forbidden  by  a  positive  law 
to  till  the  ground  or  to  construct  settled  habitations,  and  they 
lived  on  the  produce  of  their  flocks,  which  they  continually  led 
from  place  to  place  in  pursuit  of  pasture  adapted  to  the  season  of 
the  year.  The  Egyptians,  on  the  contrary,  appear  to  have 
been  originally  under  a  prohibition  of  exactly  the  opposite  kind, 
since  they  cultivated  the  ground  with  care,  excelled  most  other 
nations  in  all  the  arts  of  life,  and  produced  the  most  splendid 

29 


226 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


proofs  of  their  architectural  skill,  but  were  not  allowed  to  keep 
flocks  of  sheep  and  goats.  That  this  was  the  case  at  the  time, 
when  Jacob  took  his  family  to  sojourn  in  Egypt,  is  evident  from 
their  application  to  Pharaoh  on  arriving  in  the  land  of  Goshen, 
which  was  on  the  eastern  border  of  Egypt  adjoining  Palestine 
and  Arabia,  to  be  permitted  to  remain  there  on  the  ground,  that 
from  their  youth  they  had  been  accustomed  to  tend  flocks, 
whereas  "every  shepherd  was  an  abomination  to  the  Egyp- 
tians*." 

It  appears  that  the  Nabatsean  law  was  far  more  effectual 
towards  the  attainment  of  its  object  than  the  Egyptian.  For, 
whereas  the  pastoral  tribes  of  Arabia  have  retained  their  inde- 
pendence and  their  national  peculiarities  even  to  the  present 
day ;  the  Egyptians,  on  the  other  hand,  became  a  prey  to  for- 
eign invasion,  and  among  other  changes  in  their  customs  we 
have  to  notice  the  introduction  of  the  management  of  sheep. 
Even  as  early  as  the  time  of  Moses  the  practice  had  commen- 
ced ;  for  in  the  account  of  the  effects  of  the  murrain  in  Exodus 
ix.  3,  we  find  mention  of  sheep,  and  indeed  it  is  remarkable, 
that  the  domestic  animals  there  enumerated,  viz.  horses,  asses, 
camels,  oxen,  and  sheep,  are  exactly  the  same,  which,  as  we 
have  before  shown,  were  bred  by  the  ancient  Persians!.  Later 
historians  afford  distinct  testimony  to  the  same  fact.  Thus 
Diodorus  Siculus  says,  that  "  upon  the  subsidence  of  the  waters 
after  the  inundation  of  the  Nile  the  flocks  were  admitted  to 
pasture,  and  the  produce  of  the  soil  was  so  abundant,  that  the 
sheep  were  not  only  shorn  ttvice,  but  also  brought  forth  young 
twice  in  the  year."  Herodotus  also  plainly  supposes,  that  sheep 
and  goats  were  bred  in  Egypt,  when  he  contrasts  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Theban  Nome,  who  worshipped  Amnion,  with 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Mendesian  Nome,  who  worshipped 
Mendes.  The  former,  he  says,  "all  abstain  from  sheep,  and 
sacrifice  goats ;"  the  latter  "  abstain  from  goats,  which  they 
hold  in  veneration,  and  sacrifice  sheep."    He,  however,  men- 


*  Gen.  xlvi.  28. — xlvii.  6.    Compare  Josephus,  Ant.  ii.  7.  5. 
t  It  should  be  observed,  that  the  Hebrew  word  translated  sheep  in  Ex.  ix.  3. 
included  goats. 


PASTORAL  LIFE   OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


227 


tions  that  the  Thebans  slew  a  ram  once  a  year  on  occasion  of 
a  particular  ceremony,  which  he  describes  (ii.  42.  46.).  The 
testimony  of  Strabo  and  Plutarch,  though  differing  in  some 
particulars  from  that  of  Herodotus,  is  to  the  same  general  ef- 
fect. Aristotle  (/.  c.)  mentions,  that  the  sheep  of  Egypt  were 
larger  than  those  of  Greece. 

But,  although  these  passages  show,  that  sheep  were  bred  in 
Egypt,  we  think  it  evident  that  their  number  was  very  limited. 
Egyptian  wool  cannot  have  been  of  the  least  importance  as  an 
article  of  commerce.  What  was  produced  must  also  have  been 
consumed  in  the  country.  For,  although  the  chief  material  for 
the  clothing  of  the  Egyptians  was  linen,  and  they  were  forbid- 
den to  be  buried  in  woollen  or  to  use  it  in  the  temples,  yet  He- 
rodotus (ii.  81.)  states,  that  on  ordinary  occasions  they  wore  a 
garment  of  white  wool  over  their  linen  shirt.  They  also  used 
wool  for  embroidering.  According  to  Pliny*  the  Egyptian  wool 
was  coarse  and  of  a  short  staple.  Tertullian  records  a  saying 
of  the  Egyptians,  that  Mercury  invented  the  spinning  of  wool 
in  their  countryt. 

Strabo  in  an  instructive  manner  contrasts  the  Ethiopians  with 
the  Egyptians.  Having  observed,  that  the  boundary  between 
the  two  nations  was  the  smaller  cataract  above  Syene  and 
Elephantine,  he  says,  that  the  Ethiopians  led  for  the  most  part 
a  pastoral  life  without  resources,  both  on  account  of  their  in- 
temperate climate  and  the  poverty  of  their  soil,  and  also  because 
they  were  remote  from  the  civilized  world ;  whereas  the  Egyp- 
tians had  always  lived  in  a  refined  manner  and  under  a  regu- 
lar government,  settled  in  fixed  habitations,  and  cultivating 
philosophy,  agriculture,  and  the  arts*.  Thus  do  we  find  the 
nomad  life  recurring  immediately  to  the  south  of  Egypt.  Stra- 
bo further  states,  that  the  Ethiopian  sheep  were  small,  and  in- 
stead of  being  woolly  were  hairy  like  goats,  on  which  account 
the  people  wore  skins  instead  of  woollen  cloth§.    That  these 


*  Hist  Nat.  1.  viii.  73.    See  Appendix  A.  t  De  Pallio,  c.  3. 

t  Strabo,  1.  xvii.  c.  1.  §  3.  p.  476,  477.  ed.  Siebenkees. 

§  Cap.  2.  §  1.  3.  p.  621.  626.  Strabo's  account  is  illustrated  and  confirmed  by 
the  traveller,  Dr.  Shaw,  who  describes  a  variety  of  sheep  in  the  interior  of  Africa 


228 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


sheep  were  held  in  some  estimation  by  the  Egyptians  is,  how- 
ever, manifest  from  the  fact,  that  in  the  splendid  procession  ex- 
hibited at  Alexandria  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphia,  there  were  130 
sheep  from  Ethiopia,  300  from  Arabia,  and  20  from  Euboea*. 
Also,  that  the  pastoral  habits  of  the  Ethiopians  were  known  to 
the  Romans  may  be  inferred  from  the  allusion,  which  Virgil 
makes  to  them  in  his  Tenth  Eclogue  (1.  64-68.) : 

No  toils  of  ours  can  change  the  cruel  god, 
Though  we  should  flee  him  through  each  new  abode  ; 
Whether  we  drink,  where  chilling  Hebrus  flows, 
And  winter  reigns  amid  Sithonian  snows  ; 
Or,  where  the  elms  beneath  hot  Cancer  bend, 
Our  Ethiopian  sheep  we  fainting  tend. 

We  find,  that  the  people  of  Libya  had  attained  to  some  dis- 
tinction in  the  management  of  flocks.  What  Diodorus  says  of 
the  Egyptian  sheep  is  asserted  by  Aristotle  of  those  of  Libya, 
viz.  that  they  produced  young  twice  in  the  yeart.  That  sheep- 
breeding  had  extended  hither  in  very  early  times  appears  from 
a  passage  in  the  Odyssey,  which,  however,  in  consequence  of 
the  remoteness  of  the  situation  and  the  imperfect  knowledge  of 
geography  in  the  time  of  the  writer,  is  mixed  with  fable,  inas- 
much as  it  represents,  that  the  ewes  brought  forth  not  only 
twice,  but  even  three  times  in  the  year,  and  that  the  lambs 
were  immediately  provided  with  hornst 

That  happy  clime  !  where  each  revolving  year 
The  teeming  ewes  a  triple  offspring  bear, 
And  two  fair  crescents  of  translucent  horn 
The  brows  of  all  their  young  increase  adorn ; 
The  shepherd  swains,  with  sure  abundance  blest, 
On  the  fat  flock  and  rural  dainties  feast ; 
Nor  want  of  herbage  makes  the  dairy  fail, 
But  every  season  fills  the  foaming  pail. 

Pope's  Translation. 

Pindar  (Pyth.  ix.  11.)  distinguishes  Libya  by  the  epithet 
ttov/^Xos,  "  abounding  in  flocks."    To  the  same  district  of  Africa, 


with  "  fleeces  as  coarse  and  hairy  as  those  of  the  goat." — Travels  in  Barbary, 
part  iii.  chap.  2.  §  1. 

*  Callixenus  Rhodius,  apud  Athenseum,  1.  v.  p.  201.  ed.  Casaub. 

t  Aristot.  Problem,  cap.  x.  sec.  46.  \  Odyss.  iv.  85-89. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS 


229 


Virgil  alludes  in  the  following  passage  of  the  Georgics,  which 
is  surpassed  by  few  as  a  happy  example  of  the  art  of  the  poet 
in  describing  the  various  modes  of  pastoral  life. 

Why  should  I  sing  of  Libya's  artless  swains ; 
Her  scatter'd  cottages  and  trackless  plains  ? 
By  day,  by  night,  without  a  destined  home, 
For  many  a  month  their  flocks  all  lonely  roam 
So  vast  th'  unbounded  solitude  appears, 
While,  with  his  flock,  his  all  the  shepherd  bears, 
His  arms,  his  household  god,  his  homely  shed, 
His  Cretan  darts,  and  dogs  of  Sparta  bred. 

Georg.  iii.  339-345. — Warton's  Translation. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that,  although  the  Libyan  shepherd  ac- 
cording to  Virgil's  description  led  a  migratory  life,  conducting 
his  sheep  from  place  to  place  in  search  of  pasture,  yet  the  scale, 
upon  which  he  carried  on  his  operations,  was  widely  different 
from  that  which  has  always  characterized  the  nomadic  tribes 
of  Asia.  The  poet  represents  the  Libyan  shepherd  as  a  soli- 
tary wanderer,  bearing  with  him  all  his  arms  and  implements, 
just  as  a  Roman  soldier  (1.  346.)  carried  his  military  accoutre- 
ments. On  the  other  hand,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Syrian  or 
Arabian  shepherd  goes  in  a  kind  of  state,  with  camels  and 
horses  to  carry  his  wife  and  children,  his  tents,  and  the  rest  of 
his  equipage ;  and  he  is  followed  by  thousands,  instead  of  hun- 
dreds or  perhaps  scores,  of  sheep  and  goats. 

Let  us  now  pursue  the  progress  of  this  employment  in  an- 
other direction,  viz.  towards  the  north-west,  and  across  the  Eux- 
ine  Sea  and  the  straits  connected  with  it  into  Europe. 

Near  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Euxine  Sea  we  meet  with 
a  very  remarkable  instance  of  the  attention  paid  to  the  produce 
and  manufacture  of  wool  in  a  tribe  called  the  Coraxi.  Strabo 
alludes  to  the  value  of  their  fleeces  in  a  passage  which  we  shall 
produce  in  speaking  of  the  wool  of  Spain,  to  which  it  more  di- 
rectly refers.  At  present  we  shall  only  consider  the  following 
evidence  preserved  by  Joannes  Tzetzes. 

To  Tta\aidv  -rrcpl  VTpcopvas  rjv  rrj  MiX>7ra>  <pr][xr)' 
vJLpia  Ta  ISliXrjaia  KaXXhra  yap  tcov  iravTcov^ 
K<p  coat  tcov  K.opa^LKcov  tyepovTa  SevTepsia*. 


*  Jo.  Tzetzes,  Chiliad,  x.  348-350,  in  Lectii  Corp.  Poetarnm  Graecorum. 


230 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


"  Anciently  Miletus  was  famed  for  carpets :  for  of  all  fleeces  the  Milesian  were 
the  most  beautiful,  although  the  Coraxic  bore  the  second  prize." 

Tlepi  tlov  MtA77<ncjv  k'tyav  7raXXot  epioyv' 

Tlepi  spio)v  JZopafav  hv  Trpaircp  Si'  'Liju/?<3 

'l7T7r(Zun^  ovroig  eiprjxe,  [xerpcp  ^ojXgjj/  'la^ajy, 

lfc.o)pa£ixdv  [xiv  rjfjKpisafjisvY]  Xa57rof.* 
"  Of  the  Milesian  fleeces  many  have  spoken :  and  to  the  Coraxic  Hipponax 
has  alluded  in  his  Choi  iambic  measure,  where  he  mentions  *  a  woman  enveloped 
in  a  Coraxic  shawl.' " 

Hipponax,  who  is  here  cited  by  Tzetzes,  was  a  satirical  poet 
of  Ephesus,  and  flourished  about  540  B.  C.  In  confirmation 
of  his  testimony  it  may  be  proved,  that  his  countrymen  and 
contemporaries  had  constant  intercourse  with  a  port  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Coraxi.  We  learn  from  Pliny  (1.  vi.  cap.  5.)t, 
that  the  Coraxi  were  situated  near  Dioscurias,  which,  though 
deserted  in  his  time,  had  been  formerly  so  illustrious  that  300 
nations,  speaking  different  languages,  resorted  to  it.  As  we 
learn  from  other  authorities,  Dioscurias  was  a  colony  of  Mile- 
tus  and  one  of  its  chief  settlements.  Miletus  also  in  the  time  of 
Hipponax  had  risen  to  the  summit  of  its  prosperity,  and  was  the 
greatest  commercial  city  in  the  world  next  to  Tyre  and  Car- 
thaget  Its  chief  trade  was  towards  the  north  and  as  far  as  the 
extremity  of  the  Euxine  Sea.  Among  the  numerous  Asiatic 
tribes,  which  were  accustomed  to  bring  their  productions  to  Dios- 
curias and  exchange  them  for  Grecian  merchandise,  the  Coraxi 
were,  as  we  may  conclude  from  the  evidence  now  produced,  a 
nation  of  superior  enterprize  and  intelligence,  who  sent  to  the 
shores  of  the  iEgean  in  the  vessels  of  Miletus  their  fine  wool, 
as  well  as  the  carpets  and  shawls,  which  they  made  from  it. 

If  wre  had  no  more  exact  information  than  that  which  has 
been  already  cited,  we  might  infer,  that  the  Coraxi  occupied 
part  of  the  modern  Circassia,  a  mountainous  region  admirably 
adapted  to  the  breeding  of  sheep.  The  Circassians  of  the  pres- 
ent day  have  numerous  herds  of  cattle  and  vast  flocks  of  sheep 
and  goats.  Their  vallies  are  distinguished  by  beauty  and  fer- 
tility.   A  late  traveller  says,  that  from  whatever  country  you 


*  lb.  378-381.  t  See  Appendix  A. 

%  Heeren,  Handbuch,  iii.  2.  2.  p.  185.    Mannert,  Geographie,  6.  3.  p.  253,  &c. 


» 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  231 

enter  Circassia,  "  you  are  at  once  agreeably  impressed  with 
the  decided  improvement  in  the  appearance  of  the  popula- 
tion, the  agriculture,  and  the  beauty  of  their  flocks  and 
herds*?  With  respect  to  Dioscurias.  we  are  informed,  that 
"  the  memory  of  its  ancient  name  is  still  preserved  in  the  pres- 
ent appellation  of  Iskouriaht"  Sir  John  Chardin,  who  visited 
it  and  calls  it  Isgaour,  commends  its  safety  in  summer  as  a  road 
for  ships,  but  says  that  it  is  a  complete  desert,  where  he  could 
obtain  no  provisions,  the  traders  who  anchor  there  being  obliged 
to  construct  temporary  huts  and  booths  of  the  boughs  of  trees 
for  their  accommodation,  whilst  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  na- 
tives of  Mingrelia  and  Caucasus!. 

But,  besides  the  general  inference  that  the  Coraxi  occupied 
part  of  the  modern  Circassia,  we  are  able  to  determine  their 
abode  with  still  greater  precision,  and  even  obtain  some  insight 
into  their  distinctive  characters  as  a  nation. 

At  the  south-eastern  extremity  of  Chirkess,  or  Circassia,  on 
the  northern  declivity  of  Mount  Elborus,  and  about  the  sources 
of  the  Kuban,  the  ancient  Hypanis,  we  find  a  mountain  clan3 
consisting  of  rather  more  than  250  families,  which  appears  to 
retain  not  only  the  manners  and  habits,  but  even  the  very 
name  of  the  Coraxi.  Julius  von  Klaproth,  to  whom  we  are 
principally  indebted  for  our  knowledge  of  them,  calls  them  the 
Caratshai§.  From  him  we  learn  the  following  particulars  re- 
specting their  appearance,  manners,  and  employments.  They 


*  Travels  in  Circassia,  &>c.  in  1835,  by  Edmund  Spencer,  Esq.,  vol.  ii.  p.  355. 
Julius  von  Klaproth,  in  the  work  quoted  below,  says,  (p.  582.),  that  the  wealth 
of  the  Circassians  consists  principally  in  their  sheep,  from  whose  wool  the  women 
make  coarse  cloth  and  felt.  In  the  summer  they  drive  their  sheep  into  the  moun- 
tains, but  feed  them  under  cover  in  winter,  and  at  other  times  in  the  plains. 

t  Dr.  Goodenough,  in  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  110. 
See  also  Major  Rennell's  Map  of  Western  Asia. 

X  Chardin's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  7  7. 108.  of  the  English  Translation.    London,  1 G86. 

§  Reise  in  den  Caucasus,  cap.  24.  The  author  thus  spells  the  name  in  German 
characters,  Ckaratschai.  Father  Lamberti,  a  missionary  from  the  Society  of  the 
Propaganda  at  Naples,  who  remained  twenty  years  in  that  part  of  Asia  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  calls  them  "  i  Caraccioli"  in  which  name  we  observe  the 
addition  of  an  Italian  termination.  See  his  Relatione  della  Colchide,  hoggi  delta 
Mengrelia,  Napoli,  1654,  cap.  28.  p.  196. 


232 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


are  among  the  most  beautiful  of  the  inhabitants  of  Caucasus, 
and  more  like  the  Georgians  than  the  wandering  Tartars  of 
the  Steppe.  They  are  well  formed,  and  have  fine  features, 
which  are  set  off  by  large  black  eyes  and  a  white  skin. 
Their  language  resembles  that  of  the  Nogay-Tartars.  They 
live  in  very  neat  houses,  built  of  pine.  Their  children  are 
strictly  and  toell  educated ;  and  in  general  it  may  be  said  of 
them,  that  they  are  the  most  cultivated  nation  in  Caucasus, 
surpassing  all  their  neighbors  in  refinement  of  manners.  They 
are  very  industrious,  and  subsist  chiefly  by  agriculture.  Their 
soil  is  productive,  and,  besides  various  kinds  of  grain,  yields 
abundance  of  grass  for  pasture.  The  country  around  them  is 
covered  with  woods,  which  abound  with  wild  animals,  such  as 
bears,  wolves,  wild  goats,  hares,  and  wild  cats,  whose  skins  are 
much  prized,  and  martins.  Their  dress  is  chiefly  made  of 
woollen  cloth,  which  they  weave  themselves  from  the  produce 
of  their  flocks,  and  which  is  admired  throughout  the  whole 
of  Caucasus.  They  sell  their  cloth,  called  by  them  Shal*, 
their  felt  for  carpeting,  and  their  furs,  partly  to  the  Nogay- 
Tartars  and  Circassians,  from  whom  they  purchase  articles  of 
metal,  and  partly  at  Souchom-Kale,  a  Turkish  fort  on  the 
Black  Sea,  which  contains  shops  and  ware-houses,  and  carries 
on  a  considerable  trade  with  the  Western  Caucasus.  They  re- 
ceive here  in  return  goods  of  cotton  and  silk,  tobacco  and  to- 
bacco-pipes, needles,  thimbles,  and  otter-skins.  While  the  men 
are  employed  out  of  doors,  the  women  stay  at  home,  make 
gold  and  silver  thread,  and  sew  the  clothes  of  their  fathers  and 
brothers. 

Such  is  the  account  given  by  a  recent  and  most  competent 
witness  of  the  actual  condition  of  this  interesting  nation,  who, 
though  now  perhaps  reduced  in  number,  occupy  probably  after 
the  lapse  of  2500  years  their  original  seat  at  the  distance  of 
from  forty  to  eighty  miles  to  the  north-east  of  the  same  coast, 
to  which  they  have  always  resorted  for  commercial  purposest. 

*  The  origin  of  the  English  shawl. 

t  Souchom-Kale  is  only  twelve  miles  from  Iscuria,  a  single  promontory  inter- 
vening between  the  bay  and  river  of  the  former  harbor  and  those  of  the  latter. 
See  Spencer's  Travels,  vol,  i.  p.  295-297,  and  his  Map  at  p.  209. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OP  THE  ANCIENTS. 


233 


We  cannot  survey  the  now  deserted  Iscuria  without  observ- 
ing, what  a  mournful  contrast  the  Euxine  presents  under  the 
sway  of  both  Russia  and  Turkey  to  the  useful  energy,  which 
more  than  2000  years  ago  promoted  life  and  the  arts  of  life, 
and  brought  into  close  and  peaceful  contact  the  most  refined 
and  the  most  uncultivated  nations,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Ionians  of  Miletus.  The  beauty,  the  bravery,  the  activity, 
and  the  independence  of  a  highland  clan  still  represent  the  skill 
and  enterprize  of  the  ancient  Coraxi  ;  but  the  commerce, 
which  rewarded  their  industry,  and  extended  their  reputation 
through  the  civilized  world,  has  sunk  into  insignificance. 

Besides  the  above  notices  of  the  Coraxi  in  Strabo  and  Tzet- 
zes  we  find  little  said  concerning  the  breeding  of  sheep  in  this 
part  of  Asia.  Aristotle,  however,  mentions  the  sheep  of  "  Pon- 
tus  near  Scythia,"  and  says  that  they  were  without  horns*. 
The  Melanchlaeni  also,  who  are  mentioned  by  Herodotus  in  his 
account  of  the  Scythian  tribes,  and  who  lived  to  the  north  of 
the  Coraxi,  were  so  called,  because  they  wore  black  palls. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  the  use  and  management  of 
sheep  were  known  from  the  earliest  times  throughout  nearly 
the  whole  of  Asia  Minor,  and  that  some  nations  in  this  region 
had  attained  to  a  superiority  in  the  art  before  the  settlement  in 
it  of  the  Grecian  colonists. 

The  imagery  of  the  Homeric  poems  (supposed  to  be  written 
about  900  B.  C.)  affords  abundant  evidence  of  these  facts. 
They  continually  mention  shepherds,  who  had  the  care  of 
sheep,  as  well  as  goat-herds,  who  managed  goats.  They  speak 
of  the  folds,  in  which  the  flocks  were  secured  at  night  to  pre- 
serve them  from  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts.  The  dangers  to 
which  the  flocks  were  exposed  from  both  wolves  and  lions,  are 
in  accordance  with  similar  expressions  and  incidents  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  arising  from  the  existence  of 
the  same  ravenous  and  destructive  quadrupeds  in  Palestine. 
Also,  the  language  both  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the  Homeric 
poems  is  precisely  the  same,  in  which  the  king  ruling  his  peo- 
ple is  compared  to  the  shepherd  tending  his  flock,  or  to  the 


*  Hist.  Anim.  viii.  28. 

30 


234 


SHEEP   BREEDING  AND 


strong  and  large  ram,  which  leads  the  sheep*.  It  is  to  be  ob- 
served, that  the  geographical  knowledge  expressed  in  the  Ho- 
meric poems  extended  as  far  as  the  promontory  of  Carambis 
on  the  south  coast  of  the  Euxine  Sea,  and  included  all  Phrygia, 
Ionia,  and  the  western  half  of  Asia  Minor. 

The  Greek  mythology  affords  similar  evidence.  The  well- 
known  story  of  Paris,  adjudging  the  golden  apple,  is  founded  on 
the  pastoral  scenes  of  Ida.  Marsyas  also  was  a  shepherd  on 
mount  Idat:  the  river  Marsyas,  famed  for  his  contest  with 
Apollo,  was  among  the  Phrygian  mountains!. 

The  historical  evidence  to  which  we  now  proceed,  though  re- 
ferring to  times  much  posterior  to  the  mythological,  is  more  ex- 
act as  well  as  more  entitled  to  absolute  credit. 

According  to  Strabo  the  branches  of  Mount  Taurus  in 
Pisidia  were  rich  in  pastures  "for  all  kinds  of  cattle§."  The 
chief  town  of  this  region  was  Selge,  a  very  flourishing  city, 
and  hence  Tertullian,  in  a  passage,  mentions  "  oves  Selgicae," 
Selgic  sheep,  among  those  of  the  greatest  celebrity.  The  su- 
perior whiteness  of  the  fleeces  of  Pamphylia  is  mentioned  by 
Philostratus. 

We  have  reason  to  believe,  that  the  Lydians  and  Carians 
bestowed  the  greatest  attention  on  sheep-breeding  and  on  the 
woollen  manufacture  before  the  arrival  of  the  Greek  colonists 
among  them.  The  new  settlers  adopted  the  employments  of 
the  ancient  inhabitants,  and  made  those  employments  subser- 
vient to  a  very  extensive  and  lucrative  trade.    Pliny  (viii.  73. 


*  See  Bochart's  Hierozoi'con,  1.  ii.  cap.  44.    De  Gregum  Pastoribus. 
t  Hyginus,  Fab.  165. 

t  It  appears  not  impossible,  that,  when  Theocritus  in  Idyll,  iii.  46,  represents 
Adonis  as  "  tending  flocks  upon  the  mountains,"  he  may  have  referred  to  the 
mountains  of  Phrygia  or  of  Ionia.  For  in  another  Idyll,  (i.  105-110,)  he  seems 
to  connect  the  love  of  Venus  for  Adonis  with  her  love  for  Anchises,  as  if  the 
scene  of  both  were  in  the  same  region.  Among  the  various  accounts  of  Adonis, 
one  makes  him  the  offspring  of  Smyrna;  and  Cinyras,  the  father  of  Adonis,  is 
said  to  have  founded  the  city  of  Smyrna  in  Ionia,  calling  it  by  that  name  af- 
ter his  daughter.  (Hyginus,  Fab.  58  and  275.)  This  supposition  accounts  most 
satisfactorily  for  the  production  of  the  beautiful  elegy  on  the  death  of  Adonis  by 
Bion,  who  was  a  native  of  Smyrna. 

§  Lib.  xii.  c.  7,  §  3. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


235 


ed.  Bip.)  mentions  the  wool  of  Laodicea  (See  Appendix  A.)  in 
Caria;  and  Strabo  (xii.  c.  7.  p.  578.  Casaub.)  observes,  that 
the  country  about  this  city  and  Colossse,  which  was  not  far  from 
it,  produced  sheep  highly  valued  on  account  of  the  fineness  and 
the  color  of  their  fleeces. 

Aristophanes  mentions  a  pall,  made  u  of  Phrygian  fleeces*  :" 
and  Varro  asserts,  that  in  his  time  there  were  many  flocks  of 
wild  sheep  in  Phrygiat. 

The  passages  above  quoted  from  Strabo  and  Joannes  Tzetzes 
allude  to  the  very  great  celebrity  of  the  wool  of  Miletus  and 
of  the  articles  woven  from  it. 

The  passages,  which  will  now  be  produced  from  both  Greek 
and  Latin  authors  of  various  ages,  conspire  to  prove  the  distin- 
guished excellence  of  the  wool  of  Miletus,  although  in  many 
of  them  the  epithet  Milesian  may  be  employed  only  in  a  pro- 
verbial acceptation  to  denote  wool  of  the  finest  quality.  The 
animals,  which  yielded  this  wool,  must  have  been  bred  in  the 
interior  of  Ionia  not  far  from  Miletus. 

Ctesias  describes  the  softness  of  camels'-hair  by  comparing  it 
to  Milesian  fleecest  A  woman  in** Aristophanes  (Lysist.  732.) 
says,  she  must  go  home  to  spread  her  Milesian  fleeces  on  the 
couch,  because  the  worms  were  gnawing  them.  In  a  fragment 
of  a  Greek  comedy,  called  Procris,  of  a  somewhat  later  age 
(ap.  Athen.  L  xii.  p.  553),  a  favorite  lap-dog  is  described,  lying 
on  Milesian  fleeces ; 

Qvkovv  VTroaropure  [laXaKcos  tw  kvvl' 
Karw  plv  viro/3a\£LT£  t&v  MtAjjtnaw 

Therefore  make  a  soft  bed  for  the  dog :  throw  down  for  him  Milesian  fleeces. 

The  Sybarites  wore  shawls  of  Milesian  wool§.  Paleephatus 
explains  the  fable  of  the  Hesperides  by  saying,  that  their  father 
Hesperus  was  a  Milesian,  and  that  they  had  beautiful  sheep, 
such  as  those  which  were  still  kept  at  Miletusll.  Eustathius 
says,  the  "  Milesian  carpets^  had  become  proverbial.  Virgil 


*  Aves,  492. 

t  Ctesise  fragmenta,  a  Biihr,  p.  224. 

§  TimoBiis  apud  Athenaeum,  xii.  p.  519.  B. 

IT  In  Dionysium,  v.  823. 


t  De  Re  Rustica,  ii.  1. 
H  De  Incred.  §  19. 


236 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


represents  the  nymphs  of  Gyrene  spinning  Milesian  fleeces, 
dyed  of  a  deep  sea-green  color : 

The  nymphs,  around  her  placed,  their  spindles  ply, 
And  draw  Milesian  wool,  of  glassy  dye. 

Georg.  iv.  334. 

He  also  alludes  to  the  high  price  of  Milesian  fleeces  in  the 
following  passage : 

Let  rich  Miletus  vaunt  her  fleecy  pride, 

And  weigh  with  gold  her  robes  in  purple  dyed. 

Georg.  iii.  306. — Sotheby's  Translation. 

The  comment  of  Servius  on  the  latter  passage  is  as  follows : 

Milesian  fleeces,  most  valuable  wools ;  for  Miletus  is  a  city  of  Asia,  where  the 
best  wools  are  dyed. 

The  ancient  Greek  version  of  Ezekiel  (xxvii.  18.)  enume- 
rates Milesian  fleeces  among  the  articles  of  Tyrian  importa- 
tion. 

Columella  (vii.  2.)  and  Pliny  (viii.  48.)  assert  the  celebrity  of 
the  flocks  of  Miletus  in  former  times,  although  in  their  time 
they  were  surpassed  by  the  sheep  of  some  other  countries. 

In  soft  Milesian  wool  as  fine  as  possible. — Hippocrates,  vol.  i.  p.  689.  ed.  Foesii. 

Ye  are  hairs  of  sheep,  although  Miletus  may  boast  of  you,  and  Italy  be  in  high 
repute,  and  though  the  hairs  be  guarded  under  skins. — Clemens  Alexandrinus, 
Psed.  ii.  30. 

Lying  on  Milesian  carpets. — Aristoph.  Ranae,  1.  548. 

Nor  do  I  speak  of  the  sheep  of  Miletus  and  Selge  and  Altinum,  nor  of  those, 
for  which  Tarentum  and  Bsetica  are  famous,  and  which  are  colored  by  nature. 
— Tertullian  de  Pallio,  3. 

If,  from  the  beginning  the  Milesians  were  occupied  in  shearing  sheep,  the  Se- 
res in  spinning  the  produce  of  trees,  the  Tyrians  in  dyeing,  the  Phrygians  in 
embroidering,  and  the  Babylonians  in  weaving. — Tertullian  de  Habitu  Muliebri. 

We  may  now  notice  Samos,  as  being  near  the  Ionic  coast. 
Athenseus  (xii.  p.  540.  D.)  cites  two  ancient  authors  who  assert 
that,  when  Polycrates  was  introducing  into  Samos  the  most  ex- 
cellent of  the  different  breeds  of  animals,  he  chose  the  dogs  of 
Laconia  and  Molossis,  the  goats  of  Scyros  and  Naxos,  and  the 
sheep  of  Miletus  and  Attica. 

Respecting  the  breeding  of  sheep  in  Samos  it  may  be  proper 
to  quote  the  remark  of  iElian  (Hist.  Anim.  xii.  40.),  that  the 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


237 


Samians  gave  some  religious  honor  to  this  animal,  because  a 
consecrated  utensil  of  gold,  which  had  been  stolen  from  one  of 
their  temples,  was  discovered  by  a  sheep. 

It  appears  probable,  that  the  shepherd  life  was  established  in 
Thrace  as  early  as  in  any  part  of  Europe ;  for  in  the  Homeric 
poems  it  is  called  "  the  mother  of  flocks"  (II.  v.  222.).  In  a 
much  later  age  the  sheep  of  Thrace  are  montioned  by  Nicander 
(Nicand.  Ther.  50.).  We  learn  from  Plato  (De  Legibus,  1.  vii. 
p.  36.  ed.  Bekker)  that  in  Thrace  the  flocks  were  entrusted  to 
the  care  of  the  women,  who  were  there  compelled  like  slaves  to 
work  out  of  doors. 

Aristotle  speaks  of  the  sheep  of  Magnesia,  and  says  that 
they  brought  forth  young  twice  a  year*. 

A  little  further  south  we  find  sheep  from  the  earliest  times  in 
Thessaly  near  the  river  Amphrysus.  Here  was  Iton,  which 
Homer  also  calls  "  the  mother  of  flockst."  It  was  celebrated 
for  a  temple  of  Minerva,  who  was  called  from  it  Itonis,  or 
Itonialj  and  whose  worship  was  transferred  from  hence  to 
Boeotia. 

That  Euboea  was  famous  for  sheep  we  know  from  the  testi- 
mony of  two  different  authors  cited  by  Athenseus.  That  of 
Callixenus  Rhodius  has  been  already  produced ;  and  that  of 
Hermippus  occurs  in  his  metrical  enumeration  of  the  most  ex- 
cellent and  characteristic  productions  of  different  countries§. 

Boeotia  appears  from  very  early  times  to  have  been  rich  in 
flocks.  The  tragic  history  of  (Edipus  supposes,  that  his  father 
Laius,  the  king  of  Thebes,  had  flocks  on  Mount  Citheeron.  Ac- 
cording to  Sophocles  ((Ed.  Tyr.  1026-1140.)  (Edipus  was  deliver- 
ed to  one  of  the  royal  shepherds  to  be  there  exposed,  and  this 
shepherd  through  pity  committed  him  to  another,  and  thus  saved 
his  life  I!.  Seneca  in  his  free  version  of  Sophocles  ((Ed.  Act.  iv. 
v.  815-850.)  has  added  a  circumstance,  as  it  appears,  from  the 


*  Problem,  cap.  x.  sec.  46.  t  II.  B.  696. 

X  Strabo,  I.  ix.  c.  2.  §  29.  p.  458  ;  and  c.  5.  §  14.  p.  614.  ed.  Siebenkees.  Apol- 
lonius  Rhodius,  Argon,  i.  551  ;  and  Schol.  ad  locum.  Alcaei  Reliquiae,  a  Math- 
thise,  No.  54. 

$  Athen.  Deip.  I.  i.  p.  27.  D. 

||  This  transaction  is  represented  in  Plate  VIII.  Fig.  5. 


238 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


practice  established  in  other  cases.  He  says,  that  the  shepherd 
of  Laius,  whom  he  calls  Phorbas,  had  many  others  under  him. 
But,  although  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  flocks  of  Lai  us  were 
so  numerous  as  to  require  a  head  shepherd  placed  over  many 
others,  we  learn  that  his  possessions  of  this  description  excited 
contest  and  warfare  among  his  descendants.  Their  country- 
man, Hesiod,  represents  them  fighting  at  the  gates  of  Thebes 
"  for  the  flocks  of  GEdipus"  (Op.  et  Dies,  163.),  an  expression, 
which  mast  at  least  be  understood  to  imply,  that  sheep  consti- 
tuted a  principal  part  of  the  king's  wealth. 

Among  the  Elgin  marbles  in  the  British  Museum  we  have  an 
interesting  inscription  relating  to  a  contract  made  between  the 
city  of  Orchomenos  in  Boeotia  and  Eubulus  of  Elatea  in  Phocis, 
according  to  which  Eubulus  was  to  have  for  four  years  the 
right  of  pasturage  for  4  cows,  200  mares,  20  sheep,  and 
1000  goats.  In  the  opinion  of  Professors  Bockh*  and  Ottfried 
Mullert  this  inscription  may  be  referred  to  the  time  of  the  Pel- 
oponnesian  war.  The  supposed  effect  of  the  waters  of  the 
Melas  and  Cephisos  on  the  fleeces  of  sheep  is  a  testimony  of  a 
much  later  date,  but  proves  that  sheep,  both  black  and  white, 
were  bred  in  that  country!.  Varro  (De  Re  Rust.  ii.  2.)  mentions 
the  practice  of  covering  sheep  with  skins  in  order  to  improve 
and  preserve  their  fleeces.  The  Attic  sheep,  thus  clothed  with 
skins,  are  mentioned  by  Demosthenes  under  the  name  of  "  soft 
sheep§."  The  hilly  part  of  Attica  was  of  course  particularly 
adapted  for  sheep  as  well  as  goats  ;  and  accordingly  a  letter  of 
Alciphron  (iii.  41.)  describes  flocks  of  them  at  Decelia  near 
Mount  Parnes  about  fifteen  miles  to  the  north  of  Athens.  The 
fame  of  the  Attic  wool  is  also  alluded  to  by  Plutarch  (De  au- 


*  Corpus  Inscrip.  Graecar.,  vol.  i.  p.  740.  t  Orchomenos,  p.  471. 

X  Vitruvius,  viii.  3.  p.  218.  ed.  Schneider.  See  also  Dodwell's  Tour,  vol.  i.  p. 
242.  It  was  imagined  that  the  water  of  the  Melas  rendered  the  wool  black,  and 
that  of  the  Cephisos  white. 

Dr.  Sibthorp,  in  crossing  the  plain  of  Boeotia  near  Plataea  in  November  A.  D. 
1794,  says,  "  Flocks  of  sheep,  whose  fleeces  were  of  remarkable  blackness,  were 
feeding  in  the  plain ;  the  breed  was  considerably  superior  in  beauty  and  size  to 
that  of  Attica." — Walpole's  Memoirs  on  Eur.  and  As.  Turkey,  p.  65. 

§  Contra  Everg.  et  Mnesid.  p.  1155.  ed.  Reiske. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OP  THE  ANCIENTS. 


239 


diendo,  p.  73.  ed.  Steph.),  and  by  the  Roman  poet  Laberius, 
who  died  in  the  year  43  B.  0. 

No  matter  whether  in  soft  Attic  wool, 
Or  in  rough  goats' -hair  you  be  clothed*. 

We  learn  from  Theocritus,  that  the  shepherds  of  Acharnse^ 
one  of  the  Attic  demi,  excelled  in  playing  on  the  pipet. 

In  the  adjoining  country  of  Megaris  was  a  temple  of  great 
antiquity  in  honor  of  A^nmp  Ma\o<p6pos.  It  was  said,  that  Ceres 
was  worshipped  under  that  title.  The  bringer  of  flocks, 
by  those  who  first  kept  sheep  in  the  country t.  Theognis  (v. 
55.)  mentions,  that  the  people  of  Megaris  used  before  his  time 
to  wear  goat-skins,  which  shows  the  late  introduction  of  the 
growth  and  manufacture  of  wool.  Here,  as  in  Attica,  it  was 
usual  to  protect  the  sheep  with  skills  ;  and,  as  the  boys  were 
sometimes  seen  naked  after  the  Doric  fashion,  Diogenes,  the 
cynic,  said  in  reference  to  these  practices,  he  would  rather  be 
the  ram  of  a  Megarensian  than  his  so?i§. 

In  the  Peloponnesus,  Arcadia  was  always  remarkable  for 
the  attention  paid  to  sheep. 

Arcadia  claims  our  especial  consideration,  because  in  it  the 
shepherd  life  assumed  that  peculiar  form,  which  has  been  the 
subject  of  so  much  admiration  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times.  Here  the  lively  genius  and  imaginative  disposition 
common  to  the  Greek  nation  were  directed  to  the  daily  contem- 
plation of  the  most  beautiful  and  romantic  varieties  of  moun- 
tain and  woodland  scenery,  and  hence  their  employments,  their 
pleasures,  and  their  religion,  all  acquired  a  rustic  character, 
highly  picturesque  and  tasteful,  and,  as  it  appears  to  us,  gene- 
rally favorable  to  the  development  of  the  domestic  and  social 
virtues.  To  attempt  a  full  investigation  of  this  subject,  and  to 
show  in  what  degree  the  want  of  higher  attainments  in  relig- 
ious knowledge  and  moral  cultivation  was  supplied  by  the  pe- 
culiar rites,  ideas,  and  customs  of  Arcadia,  would  lead  us  too 
far  from  our  proper  subject.    We  only  wish  to  bring  forward 


*  Apud  Non.  Marcellum.  t  Idyll,  vii.  71.  X  Paus.  i.  44.  4. 

§  Diog.  Laert.  vi.  41.    iEHani  Var.  Hist.  xii.  56. 


,      V-    SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


I  th£ 'principal  -|^c%"  and  authorities,  and  to  give  a  succint  ac- 
fc^urfdfhfie'ffemiine  Arcadian  system  of  religion  and  manners 
without  attempting  to  refute  at  length  the  opposite  views, 
which  have  been  adopted  by  ancient  and  modern  writers. 

The  peculiar  Divinity  of  Arcadia,  whose  worship  had  a  con- 
stant and  manifest  reference  to  the  principal  employments  of 
the  inhabitants,  was  Pan.  Hence  he  is  called  by  Virgil  and 
Propertius  "  the  God  of  Arcadia*."  According  to  Herodotus 
(ii.  145.),  Pan,  the  son  of  Mercury  (who  was  born  at  Cyllene 
in  Arcadia,  where  Mercury  was  previously  worshipped,)  first 
saw  the  light  after  the  Trojan  war,  and  about  800  years  before 
his  own  time.  Thus  we  are  able  to  refer  the  supposed  birth  of 
Pan,  and  consequently  the  commencement  of  his  worship  to 
about  the  year  1260  B.  C.f. 

The  circumstances  of  the  birth  of  this  divinity,  with  his  hab- 
its and  employments,  are  described  as  follows  in  the  most  an- 
cient document  which  we  have  relating  to  him,  viz.  Homer's 
Hymn  to  Pan.  Mercury  tended  rough  flocks  at  Cyllene  in 
the  service  of  a  mortal  man,  being  enamored  of  a  beautiful 
nymph.  In  the  course  of  time  she  bore  him  a  son,  having-  the 
feet  of  a  goat,  two  horns  upon  his  forehead,  a  long  shaggy 
beard,  and  a  bewitching  smile.  This  was  Pan,  who  became 
the  god  of  the  shepherds,  and  the  companion  of  the  mountain 
nymphs,  penetrating  through  the  densest  thickets,  and  inhabit- 
ing the  most  wild,  rough,  and  lofty  summits  of  the  sylvan  Ar- 
cadia. There  it  is  his  business  to  destroy  the  wild  beasts  ; 
and  when,  having  returned  from  hunting,  he  drives  his 
sheep  into  a  cave,  he  plays  upon  his  reeds  a  tune  sweet  as 
the  song  of  any  bird  in  spring/  The  nymphs,  delighting  in 
melody,  listen  to  him  when  they  go  to  the  dark  fountain,  and 
the  god  sometimes  appears  among  them,  wearing  on  his  back 
the  hide  of  a  lynx,  which  he  has  lately  killed,  and  he  joins  with 
them  in  the  choral  song  and  dance  upon  a  meadow  variegated 
with  the  crocus  and  the  hyacinth.    He  is  beloved  by  Bacchus, 


*  Virg.  Buc.  x.  26.  and  Georg.  iii.  385.  See  also  Propert.  i.  17 
t  Hist.  d'Herodote,  par  Larcher,  tome  vii.  p.  359.  582. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OP  THE  A^Clk^f^y^ 

and  is  the  delight  of  his  father  Mercury,  an^S^^ebrate^tli^ 
worship  beyond  that  of  all  the  other  gods. 

Callimachus  (Hymn,  in  Dianam,  88.)  represents  rah  at  his 
fold  in  Arcadia,  feeding  his  dogs  with  the  flesh  of  a  lynx,  which 
he  has  caught  on  Msenalus.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  care 
of  dogs  to  guard  the  flock  was  an  indispensable  part  of  the  pas- 
toral office.  Philostratus,  in  his  Second  Book  of  Pictures*,  sup- 
poses the  nymphs  to  have  been  reproving  Pan  for  his  want  of 
grace  in  dancing,  telling  him  that  he  leapt  too%igh  and  like 
a  goat,  and  offering  to  teach  him  a  more  gentle  method.  He 
pays  no  attention  to  them,  but  tries  to  catch  hold  of  them. 
Upon  this  they  surprise  him  sleeping  at  noon  after  the  toils  of 
the  chase  ;  and  he  is  represented  in  the  picture  with  his  arms 
tied  behind  him,  and  enraged  and  struggling  against  them, 
while  they  are  cutting  off  his  beard  and  trying  to  transform 
his  legs  and  to  humanize  him. 

In  the  Bucolics  and  Georgics  of  Yirgil  we  find  frequent  invo- 
cations to  Pan  as  the  god  of  shepherds,  the  guardian  of  flocks, 
and  the  inventor  of  the  syrinx,  or  Pandean  pipes. 

Ipse,  nemus  linquens  patrium,  saltusque  Lycsei, 
Pan,  ovium  custos,  tua  si  tibi  Maenala  curee, 
Adsis,  O  Tegesee,  favens. 

Georg.  i.  16-18. 

God  of  the  fleece,  whom  grateful  shepherds  love, 
Oh,  leave  Lycaeus  and  thy  father's  grove ; 
And  if  thy  Maenalus  yet  claim  thy  care, 
Hear,  Tegesean  Pan,  th'  invoking  prayer. 

Georg.  i.  16-18. 

Delightful  Maenalus,  'mid  echoing  groves, 
And  vocal  pines,  still  hears  the  shepherds'  loves ; 
The  rural  warblings  hear  of  skilful  Pan, 
Who  first  to  tune  neglected  reeds  began. 

Bucol.  viii.  22-24. — Warton's  Translation. 

O  that  you  lov'd  the  fields  and  shady  grots, 
To  dwell  with  me  in  bowers  and  lowly  cots, 
To  drive  the  kids  to  fold,  the  stags  to  pierce ; 
Then  shouldst  thou  emulate  Pan's  skilful  verse, 


*  Philostrati  Senioris  Imag.  1.  ii.  c.  11. 

31 


242 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


Warbling  with  me  in  woods :  'twas  mighty  Pan 
To  join  with  wax  the  various  reeds  began. 
Pan,  the  great  god  of  all  our  subject  plains, 
Protects  and  loves  the  cattle  and  the  swains : 
Nor  thou  disdain  thy  tender  rosy  lip 
Deep  to  indent  with  such  a  master's  pipe. 

Bucol.  ii.  28-34. — Warton's  Translation. 

Besides  the  four  places  in  Arcadia,  which  are  referred  to  in 
the  above-cited  passages  of  Virgil,  Pausanias  informs  us  of  sev- 
eral others,  in  which  he  saw  temples  and  altars  erected  to  Pan. 
He  says*,  that  Mount  Msenalus  was  especially  sacred  to  this 
deity,  so  that  those  who  dwelt  in  its  vicinity  asserted,  that 
they  sometimes  heard  him  playing  on  the  syrinx.  A  con- 
tinual fire  burnt  there  near  his  temple. 

Herodotus  gives  a  very  curious  account  of  the  introduction 
of  the  worship  of  Pan  into  Atticat.  He  says,  that  before  the 
battle  of  Marathon  the  Athenian  generals  sent  Philippides  as 
a  herald  to  Sparta.  "  On  his  return  Philippides  asserted,  that 
Pan  had  appeared  to  him  near  Mount  Parthenius  above  Te- 
gea,  had  addressed  him  by  name  and  with  a  loud  voice,  and 
commanded  him  to  ask  the  Athenians  why  they  did  not  pay 
any  regard  to  him,  a  god,  who  was  kind  to  them,  who  had 
been  often  useful  to  them  and  would  be  so  in  future.  The 
Athenians,  believing  the  statement  of  Philippides,  when  they 
found  themselves  prosperous,  erected  a  temple  to  Pan  below 
the  Acropolis,  and  continued  to  propitiate  him  by  annual  sacri- 
fices and  by  carrying  the  torch."  From  various  authorities  we 
know,  that  this  temple  was  in  the  cave  on  the  northern  side  of 
the  Acropolis  below  the  Propyleeat 


*  L.  viii.  c.  36.  5.  and  c.  37.  8.  t  Lib.  vi.  c.  105. 

t  Eurip.  Jon.  492-504.  937.  Paus.  i.  28.  4.  Stuart's  Ant.  of  Athens.  Hob- 
house's  Travels,  p.  336.    DodwelPs  Tour,  vol.  i.  p.  304. 

In  Sir  R.  Worsley's  collection  of  Antiques  at  Appledurcombe  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight  is  a  bas-relief,  in  which  Pan  is  reclining  as  if  after  the  chase  near  the 
mouth  of  this  cave.  He  holds  the  syrinx  in  the  left  hand,  a  drinking-horn  in  the 
right.  A  train  of  worshippers  are  conducting  a  ram  to  the  altar  within  the  cave. 
See  Museum  Worsleianum,  Lon.  1794.  plate  9.  In  the  vestibule  of  the  Univer- 
sity Library  at  Cambridge  is  a  mutilated  statue  of  Pan  clothed  in  a  goat-skin 
and  holding  the  syrinx  in  his  left  hand.    This  statue  was  discovered  near  the 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


243 


In  later  times  a  cave  near  Marathon  was  dedicated  to  Pan, 
the  stalactitio  incrustations  within  it  being  compared  to  goats, 
and  to  their  stalls  and  drinking-troughs*. 

Chandler  and  Dodwell  in  their  Travels  describe  another 
cave  larger  than  that  at  Marathon  and  containing  more  varied 
stalagmitic  concretions.  It  is  near  the  summit  of  Mount  Rap- 
sana  between  Athens  and  Sunium.  IIANOC  is  inscribed  on 
the  rock  near  the  entrance,  proving  that  it  was  considered 
sacred  to  Pan.  It  is  no  doubt  the  Panlon  mentioned  by 
Strabot. 

The  Corycian  cave  on  Mount  Parnassus  was  dedicated  by 
the  surrounding  inhabitants  to  Pan  and  to  the  Nymphst. 
Theocritus  also  (Idyll,  viii.  v.  103.)  speaks  of  Homole,  a  moun- 
tainous tract  in  the  south  of  Thessaly,  as  belonging  to  Pan. 
Altars  were  dedicated  to  Pan  on  the  race-course  at  Olympia  in 
Elis§,  as  we  may  presume,  out  of  respect  to  the  Arcadians,  who 
resorted  to  the  Olympic  games.  Pindar  states!!,  that  he  had 
near  his  door  a  statue  of  Pan.  Here,  as  his  able  commentators 
Heyne  and  Bockh  observe,  his  daughters  with  other  Theban 
virgins  sung  hymns  in  honor  of  the  god. 


same  cave,  and  from  its  style,  (the  jEginetic,)  may  be  supposed  to  have  been 
carved  soon  after  the  battle  of  Marathon.  See  Dr.  E.  D.  Clarke's  Greek  Mar- 
bles, p.  9.  No.  xi.  Wilkins's  Magna  Graecia,  p.  71,  and  Dodwell's  Tour,  vol.  i. 
p.  304. 

*  Paus.  I.  i.  32.  6.  Dodwell's  Tour,  vol.  ii.  p.  162.  Mapat,  p.  330  of  Mem.  on 
Eur.  and  As.  Turkey,  edited  by  Walpole. 

t  L.  ix.  cap.  1.  §  21.  It  was  consecrated  to  the  Nymphs  as  well  as  to  Pan, 
this  association  of  the  Nymphs  with  that  deity  being  universally  practised.  Dod- 
well's Tour,  vol.  i.  p.  550-555.  "  The  countryman  and  shepherd,  as  well  as  the 
sportsman,  has  often  repaired,  it  is  likely,  to  this  cave,  to  render  the  deities  pro- 
pitious by  sacrificing  a  she-goat  or  lamb,  by  gifts  of  cakes  or  fruit,  and  by  liba- 
tions of  milk,  oil,  and  honey  ;  simply  believing,  that  this  attention  was  pleasing 
to  them,  that  they  were  present  though  unseen,  and  partook  without  diminishing 
the  offering  ;  their  appetites  as  well  as  passions,  caprices,  and  employments  resem- 
bling the  human.  At  noon-day  the  pipe  was  silent  on  the  mountains,  lest  it 
might  happen  to  awake  Pan,  then  reposing  after  the  exercise  of  hunting,  tired 
and  peevish."    Chandler's  Travels  in  Greece,  c.  32.  p.  155. 

X  Paus.  1.  x.  32.  5.  Strabo,  L  ix.  cap.  3.  §  1.  p.  488.  ed.  Siebenkees  Raikes's 
Journal  in  Memoirs  edited  by  Walpole,  p.  311 — 315. 

§  Paus.  1.  v.  c.  15.  §  4.  |]  Pyth.  iii.  137-139. 


244 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


Time  has  spared  the  traces  of  hymns  performed  on  such  oc- 
casions, of  which  the  following  Scholion  is  the  most  entire  spe- 
cimen. 

y£l  Tlavj  'A.pKaAtas  [ieSwv  nXsevvaSj 
dp^rjara  Ppofxiats  6-rrade  vvfi^ais, 
yeKaveiaS)  co  Ilaj/,  £7r'  IfjiaTg 
eixppoavvais,  doiSaTg  K£^apr]jxevo^. 

O  Pan,  Arcadia's  sovereign  lord, 
Dancing  and  singing  with  the  nymphs ; 
Smile,  Pan,  responsive  to  my  joys, 
O  shout,  delighted  with  my  songs. 

On  a  vase  of  Greek  marble  in  the  Royal  Museum  at  Naples 
(This  vase  was  first  described  in  Bayardi,  Catalogo  degliantichi 
monumenti  dissottarretti  da  Ercolano.  Napoli,  1754,  p.  290. 
No.  914.),  we  see  Pan  dancing  with  the  nymphs  exactly  as  he 
is  represented  in  the  preceding  song.  The  sculpture  is  in  that 
very  ancient  style,  which  is  called  Etruscan.  Pan  is  here  ex- 
hibited with  goats'  feet  and  horns  (Horn.  Hymn,  in  Pana,  1.  2.). 
He  wears  the  skin  of  an  animal,  and  employs  his  right  hand  in 
drawing  it  up  towards  his  left  shoulder.  In  his  left  hand  he 
holds  the  crook  or  pastoral  staff,  which  is  one  of  his  usual  em- 
blems. Pan  and  the  three  females,  with  whom  he  is  dancing, 
form  a  distinct  group  by  themselves.  They  are  moving  round 
a  large  stone,  and  the  artist  probably  imagined  them  to  be 
moving  first  in  one  direction,  and  then  in  the  opposite,  as  if 
performing  the  Strophe  and  Antistrophe  around  an  altar.  We 
learn  from  Mr.  Dodwell,  that  the  modern  Greeks  in  their  circu- 
lar dances  hold  each  other  with  a  handkerchief,  and  not  by  the 
handt. 

That  the  Romans  considered  Pan  and  Faun  to  be  the  same, 
using  the  two  names  indiscriminately,  the  one  as  the  Greek, 
the  other  as  the  Latin  form,  is  evident  from  such  passages  as 
the  following : 

Pan  from  Arcadia's  hills  descends 
To  visit  oft  my  Sabine  seat, 


*  Athenaeus,  L  xv.  50.  1547.  ed.  Dindorf.    Pindari  Op.  a  Bockh.  ii.  2.  p.  592. 
Brunck,  Analecta,  vol.  i.  p.  156 ;  and  vol.  iii.  Lect.  et.  Emend,  p.  27. 
t  Dodwell's  Tour,  vol.  ii.  p.  21,  22. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


245 


And  here  my  tender  goats  defends 

From  rainy  winds  and  summer's  heat. 

For  when  the  vales,  wide-spreading  round, 

The  sloping  hills,  and  polish'd  rocks, 
With  his  harmonious  pipe  resound, 

In  fearless  safety  graze  my  flocks. 

Hor.  Od.  L  i.  c.  17.  v.  1-12. 

The  names  Pan  and  Faun,  scarcely  differ  except  in  this, 
that  the  one  begins  with  P,  the  lenis,  and  the  other  with  F, 
which  is  its  aspirate :  in  the  second  place,  both  were  conceiv- 
ed to  have  not  only  the  same  form  and  appearance,  but  the 
same  habits,  dispositions,  and  employments :  thirdly,  the  goat 
was  sacrificed  to  Pan  in  Greece*  and  to  Faunus  in  Italyt,  be- 
cause the  Arcadian  and  Roman  deity  was  conceived  to  be  the 
guardian  of  goats  as  well  as  sheep,  but  this  animal  was  not 
sacrificed  to  the  Egyptian  Mendes,  because 

In  safety  through  the  woody  brake 

The  latent  shrubs  and  thyme  explore, 
Nor  longer  dread  the  speckled  snake, 

And  tremble  at  the  wolf  no  more. 

Francis's  Translation,  abridged. 

in  Egypt  the  goat  itself  was  supposed  to  be  Mendes,  an  incar- 
nation of  the  god ;  and  lastly,  it  is  recorded  as  an  historical  fact, 
that  the  worship  of  Faunus  was  brought  to  Rome  from  Arcadia, 
whereas  the  supposition  of  the  introduction  of  the  same  wor- 
ship into  Arcadia  from  Egypt,  though  found  in  the  pages  of 
an  historian,  is  not  given  by  him  as  a  matter  of  history,  but 
only  as  a  matter  of  opinion.  The  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
worship  of  Faunus  at  Rome,  is  as  follows :  Evander,  the  Ar- 
cadian, introduced  a  colony  of  his  countrymen  into  Italy, 
and  established  there  the  rights  of  Mercury  and  of  the  Ly- 
cean  Pan  on  the  hill,  which  was  afterioards  called  the  Pal- 
atine Mount  and  became  part  of  the  city  of  Rome.    A  cave 


*  Longi  Pastor.  1.  ii.  c.  17.  In  an  epigram  by  Leonidas  of  Tarentum  (No. 
xxx.  Brunckii  Analecta,  torn.  i.  p.  228.)  Bito,  an  aged  Arcadian,  dedicates  offer- 
ings to  Pan,  to  Bacchus,  and  to  the  Nymphs.    To  Pan  he  devotes  a  kid. 

t  Ovid.  Fasti,  ii.    See  also  Hor.  Od.  L  i.  4.  v.  ii. 


246 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


at  the  base  of  the  hill  was  dedicated  to  Pan,  as  we  have  seen 
was  the  case  some  centuries  afterwards  at  Athens*. 

In  the  preceding  observations  we  have  endeavored  to  give  a 
correct  representation  of  the  real  sentiments  and  practices  of 
the  Arcadians  in  regard  to  the  proper  divinity  of  their  country ; 
and  from  this  account  we  are  naturally  led  to  inquire  what  in- 
fluence this  peculiar  belief  and  worship  had  upon  their  manners 
and  their  social  life.  Whilst  the  elegant  simplicity  and  inno- 
cence of  the  Arcadian  shepherds,  their  graceful  chorusses,  their 
dance  and  song,  their  love  for  their  fleecy  charge,  which  they 
delighted  and  soothed  with  the  melody  of  the  pipe,  have  been 
the  theme  and  ornament  of  poetry  and  romance  from  the  ear- 
liest times,  the  question  is  highly  important  and  interesting, 
whether  these  ideal  visions  are  realised  by  historical  testimony  ? 
whether  the  shepherds  of  the  ancient  Arcadia  were  so  entirely 
and  so  favorably  distinguished  from  men  of  the  same  class  and 
employment  in  almost  all  other  times  and  countries?  One 
modern  writer  denies  this  fact.  He  says,  "  The  refined  and 
almost  spiritualized  state  of  innocence,  which  we  call  the  pas- 
toral life  of  Arcadia,  was  entirely  unknown  to  the  ancients  :?J 
and  he  quotes  in  support  of  this  assertion  several  expressions, 
used  by  Philostratus  and  other  writers,  and  denoting  contempt 
for  the  Arcadians  as  a  rude,  ignorant,  stupid  race  of  people!. 
Polybius,  who  was  an  Arcadian,  confidently  asserts,  that  they 
had  throughout  Greece  a  high  and  honorable  reputation,  not 
only  on  account  of  their  hospitality  to  strangers  and  their  benev- 
olence towards  all  men,  but  especially  on  account  of  their  pie- 
ty towards  the  divine  being  !  It  is  true  they  make  no  figure 
in  Grecian  history,  because  they  were  too  wise  to  take  part  in 
the  irrational  contests,  which  continually  embroiled  the  sur- 
rounding states.  Their  division  into  small  independent  com- 
munities, each  presenting  a  purely  democratic  constitution, 
rendered  it  impossible  for  them  to  acquire  celebrity  in  legis- 


*  Dionys.  Halicarn.  Hist.  Rom.  1.  i.  p.  20,  21,  ed.  R.  Steph.  Paris  1546.  Strabon 
1.  v.  cap.  iii.  §  3.  Aur.  Victor,  Origo  Gentis  Romanae.  Livii  1.  i.  c.  5.  Pausanias, 
viii.  43.  2.  Virg.  JEn.  viii.  51-54.  342-344.  Heyne's  Excursus  ad  loc.  Ovidii 
Fasti,  ii.  268-452.  v.  88,  &c. 

t  J.  H.  Voss,  Virgil's  Landliche  Gedichte,  torn.  ii.  p.  353. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  247 

lotion  ;  and  yet  we  are  informed  of  some  of  the  citizens  of  Ar- 
cadia, who  were  reputed  excellent  lawgivers  for  the  sphere  in 
which  they  acted*.  It  appears  to  be  no  inconsiderable  evidence 
of  their  progress  in  the  art  of  government  upon  republican  prin- 
ciples, that  in  the  choice  of  magistrates  at  Mantinea  they 
proceeded  upon  the  plan  of  a  double  election^.  We  have 
the  most  decisive  proofs  of  their  public  spirit  in  the  splendid 
cities,  which  they  erected,  and  which  were  adorned  with  thea- 
tres, temples,  and  numerous  other  edifices.  We  are  informed 
by  PausaniasJ,  that  of  all  the  temples  in  Peloponnesus  the  most 
beautiful  and  admirable  were  those  of  Minerva  at  Tegea  and 
of  Apollo  at  Phigalia ;  and  these  were  both  cities  of  Arcadia. 
Now  it  should  be  observed,  that  the  taste  and  splendor  of  their 
public  edifices  are  the  more  decisive  proofs  of  their  national  en- 
thusiasm, when  it  is  considered,  that  among  them  property 
was  exceedingly  subdivided ;  that  they  had  no  overpower- 
ing aristocracy?  no  princes  or  great  landed  gentry,  who  might 
seek  for  renown  or  court  popularity  by  bestowing  their  wealth 
upon  public  institutions  ;  but  that  the  noble  temples,  the  sculp- 
tures, and  other  works  of  art,  which  ornamented  their  cities 
and  were  subservient  to  purposes  of  common  interest,  could 
have  been  produced  only  by  the  united  deliberations  and  con- 
tributions of  the  mass  of  the  inhabitants.  They  seem  there- 
fore to  prove  the  universal  prevalence  both  of  a  liberal  patri- 
otic feeling,  and  of  a  cultivated  taste  for  the  beautiful  and  the 
sublime. 

Virgil  bears  his  testimony  to  their  superior  skill  in  vocal  and 
instrumental  music. 

Arcadian  swains, 
Ye  best  artificers  of  soothing  strains. 

Bucol.  x.  32. —  Warton's  Translation. 

This  must  of  course  be  understood  as  referring  only  to  music 
and  poetry  of  the  pastoral  kind.  To  the  composition  of  the 
higher  species  of  poetry,  by  which  the  Greeks  of  other  coun- 
tries laid  a  foundation  for  the  instruction  and  delight  of  all  suc- 


*  Wachsmuth,  Hellen.  Alterthumskunde,  i.  1.  p.  180  ;  i.  %  p.  305. 

t  Aristot.  Polit.  1.  vi.  2.  2.  %  L.  viii.  c.  41.  5.  p.  429,  ed.  Siebel. 


248 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


ceeding  ages,  the  Arcadians  never  aspired.  At  the  same  time 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  bestowed  great  care  upon  the 
exhibition  of  dramatic  compositions,  though  they  did  not  at- 
tempt to  write  them  :  of  this  fact  we  have  sufficient  proof  in 
the  remains  of  the  theatres  found  upon  the  sites  of  their  prin- 
cipal cities,  and  especially  of  the  theatre  of  Megalopolis,  which 
was  the  greatest  in  all  Greece*. 

But  with  respect  to  their  cultivation  of  music  and  its  influ- 
ence on  their  national  character,  we  have  upon  record  the  full 
and  explicit  testimony  of  one  of  their  most  distinguished  cit- 
izens, the  historian  Polybius,  whose  remarks  will  appear  espe- 
cially deserving  of  the  reader's  attention,  when  it  is  considered, 
that  he  must  himself  have  gone  through  the  whole  course  of 
discipline  and  instruction  which  he  describes.  Having  had  oc- 
casion to  mention  the  turbulent  character  as  well  as  the  cruel 
and  perfidious  conduct  of  the  Cynaetheans,  who  occupied  a  city 
and  district  in  the  north  of  Arcadia,  he  proposes  to  inquire  why 
it  was  that,  although  they  were  indeed  Arcadians,  they  had 
acted  in  a  manner  so  entirely  at  variance  with  the  usual  habits 
and  manners  of  the  Greeks,  and  he  then  proceeds  with  earnest- 
ness and  solemnity  to  explain  upon  the  following  principles  the 
cause  of  this  extraordinary  contrast.  It  was,  as  he  states,  that 
the  Cynaetheans  were  the  only  inhabitants  of  Arcadia  who  had 
neglected  to  exercise  themselves  in  music ;  and  he  then  gives 
the  following  account  of  the  established  practice  of  the  rest  of 
the  Arcadians  in  devoting  themselves  to  the  study  of  real 
music,  by  which  he  means  the  united  arts  of  music,  poetry,  and 
dancing,  of  all  those  elegant  and  graceful  performances,  over 
which  the  Muses  were  supposed  to  preside.  He  informs  us 
that  the  Arcadians,  whose  general  habits  were  very  severe, 
were  required  by  law  to  go  on  improving  themselves  in  music, 
so  understood,  until  their  thirtieth  year.  "In  childhood,"  says 
he,  "  they  are  taught  to  sing  in  tune  hymns  and  paeans  in 
honor  of  the  domestic  heroes  and  divinities.  They  afterwards 
learn  the  music  of  Philoxenus  and  Timotheus.  They  dance  to 
the  pipe  in  the  theatres  at  the  annual  festival  of  Bacchus  j  and 


*  Pausanias,  1.  viii.  32.  1.    Leake's  Travels  in  the  Morea,voI.  ii.  p.  32.  39,  40. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  249 

they  do  this  with  great  emulation,  the  boys  performing  mock- 
fights  adapted  to  their  age,  and  the  young  men  the  so-called 
manly  fights.  In  like  manner  throughout  the  whole  of  life 
their  pleasure  at  feasts  and  entertainments  consists,  not  in  lis- 
tening to  singers  hired  for  the  purpose,  but  in  singing  them- 
selves in  their  turns  when  called  upon.  For,  although  a  man 
may  decline  any  other  performance  on  the  ground  of  inability 
and  may  thereby  bring  no  imputation  on  himself,  no  one  can 
refuse  to  sing,  because  all  have  been  obliged  to  learn  it,  and  to 
refuse  to  take  a  part,  when  able,  is  deemed  disgraceful.  The 
young  men  also  unite  together  to  perform  in  order  all  the  mil- 
itary steps  and  motions  to  the  sound  of  the  pipe,  and  at  the 
public  expense  they  exhibit  them  every  year  before  their  fellow- 
citizens.  Besides  these  ballets,  marches,  and  mock-fights,  the 
men  and  women  unite  in  great  public  assemblies  and  in  nume- 
rous sacrifices,  to  which  are  to  be  added  the  circular  or  choral 
dances  by  the  boys  and  virgins."  Polybius  adds,  that  these 
musical  exercises  had  been  ordained  as  the  means  of  communi- 
cating softness  and  refinement  to  the  otherwise  rough  and  la- 
borious life  of  the  Arcadians,  «and  he  warns  them  by  the  exam- 
ple of  the  half-savages  of  Cynaethae  never  to  abandon  such 
wholesome  institutions*.  With  how  great  benefit  to  our  own 
social  character  might  wTe  adopt  this  counsel !  How  greatly 
might  we  contribute  both  to  the  innocent  enjoyment  and  to  the 
more  improved  and  elevated  tastes  of  our  rustics  and  artisans, 
if  well-regulated  plans  were  devised,  by  which  graceful  recrea- 
tions, providing  at  the  same  time  exercise  for  the  body,  amuse- 
ment for  the  imagination,  and  employment  for  the  finer  and 
more  amiable  feelings,  were  made  to  relieve  the  degrading  and 
benumbing  monotony  of  their  protracted  labors,  whether  in  the 
factory  or  in  the  field  ! 

It  will  be  readily  perceived,  that  the  education  here  described, 
and  the  tastes  and  habits  which  it  produced,  were  immediately 
associated  with  the  popular  religion,  and  especially  with  the 
notions  and  rites  entertained  towards  the  peculiar  god  of  the 
shepherds.    Other  deities  indeed,  such  as  Apollo,  Diana,  and 


*  Polyb.  L  iv.  c.  20,  21. 


250 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


Minerva,  who  were  also  worshipped  in  Arcadia,  may  have  con- 
tributed to  the  same  effect ;  and  especially  this  may  have  been 
the  case  with  Mercury,  perhaps  the  only  one  of  the  higher  Greek 
divinities,  who  was  conceived  to  have  a  benevolent  character, 
who  was  the  father  of  Pan,  and  was  himself  reported  to  have 
been  born  in  a  cave  of  the  same  mountain  in  Arcadia,  on  which 
he  was  worshipped.  He  was  a  lover  of  instrumental  music, 
having  invented  the  lyre,  and  he  was  frequently  represented  on 
coins  and  gems,  riding  upon  a  ram,  or  with  his  emblems  so 
connected  with  the  figures  of  sheep,  and  more  rarely  of  goats 
and  of  dogs,  as  to  prove  that  in  his  character  as  the  god  of  gain 
the  shepherds  looked  up  to  him  together  with  his  offspring  to 
bless  the  flocks  and  to  increase  their  produce*.  Hence  Homer, 
in  order  to  convey  the  idea  that  Phorbas  was  remarkably  suc- 
cessful in  the  breeding  of  sheep7  says  that  he  was  beloved  by 
Mercury  above  all  the  other  Trojanst.  The  inhabitants  of  one 
territory  even  in  Arcadia,  viz.  the  city  of  Phineos,  honored 
Mercury  more  than  all  the  other  gods,  and  expressed  this  sen- 
timent by  procuring  a  statue  of  him  made  by  a  celebrated 


*  Buonaroti  (Osservazioni  sopra  alcuni  Medaglioni  Antichi,  p.  41.)  has  exhibit- 
ed brass  coins,  in  one  of  which  Mercury  is  riding  on  a  sheep ;  in  a  second  the 
sheep  is  seen  with  Mercury's  bag  of  money  on  its  back ;  and  in  a  third  the  ca- 
duceus  is  over  the  sheep,  and  two  spikes  of  corn,  emblems  of  agricultural  pros- 
perity, spring  out  of  the  ground  before  it.  Among  the  gems  of  the  Baron  de 
Stosch,  now  belonging  to  the  Royal  Cabinet  at  Berlin,  No.  381.  Class  II.  repre- 
sents Mercury  sitting  upon  a  rock  with  a  dog  by  his  side :  Winckelmann  ob- 
serves, that  "  the  dog  is  the  symbol  of  Mercury  as  the  protector  of  shepherds." 
Nos.  392,  393,  396-402,  in  the  same  collection,  represent  him  with  sheep,  and 
one  of  them  (399.)  exhibits  him  standing  erect  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  four  rams, 
and  holding  the  bag  or  purse  in  his  right  hand  and  the  caduceus  in  his  left. 

Some  of  the  coins  of  Sicily  appear  to  refer  in  like  manner  to  the  character  of 
Mercury  as  the  promoter  of  the  trade  in  wool. 

The  Honorable  Keppel  Craven  (Excursions  in  the  Abruzzi,  London,  1838,  vol. 
i.  ch.  4.  p.  109.)  mentions  a  temple  at  Arpinum,  a  city  of  Latium,  which  was 
dedicated,  as  appears  from  an  inscription  found  on  its  site,  to  MERCURIUS  LA- 
NARIUS.  This  title  evidently  represented  Mercury  as  presiding  over  the 
growth  of  wool  and  the  trade  in  it. 

Perhaps  the  very  ancient  idea  of  Mercury  making  the  fleece  of  Phryxus 
golden  by  his  touch  may  have  originated  in  the  same  view.  See  Apollonius 
Rhodius,  Argonautica,  1.  11.  1144,  and  Scholion  ad  locum. 

t  II.  xiv.  490.    See  also  Horn.  Hymn  to  Mercury,  569.    Hesiod,  Theog.  444. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  251 

sculptor  in  iEgina,  in  which  he  was  represented  carrying  a  ram 
under  his  arm,  and  which  they  placed  in  the  great  temple  of 
Jupiter  at  Olympia*.  At  Corinth  there  was  a  brazen  statue  of 
Mercury  in  a  sitting  posture  with  a  ram  standing  beside  him. 
According  to  Pausanias  (ii.  3,  4.)  the  reason  of  this  representa- 
tion was,  that  of  all  the  gods  Mercury  was  thought  most  to 
take  care  of  flocks  and  to  promote  their  increase.  But,  as  the 
Corinthians  had  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  tending  of 
sheep  and  were  devoted  to  commerce,  we  may  ask  what  inter- 
est had  they  in  this  attribute  of  Mercury  ?  It  is  very  evident 
that  it  could  only  be  an  interest  arising  from  the  part  which  Cor- 
inth took  in  the  wool-trade.  That  the  Arcadians  did  not 
themselves  consume  their  wool  is  manifest.  How  could  they 
have  built  cities,  which  were  so  large,  numerous,  and  handsome 
in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  their  country,  and  have  lived 
even  in  that  degree  of  elegance  and  luxury,  to  which  they  at- 
tained, unless  they  had  been  able  to  dispose  of  the  chief  prod- 
uce of  their  soil  in  a  profitable  manner  ?  It  is  probable 
therefore,  that  the  representation  of  Mercury  or  of  his  emblems 
in  conjunction  with  the  figure  of  the  sheep  on  the  coins  of  Cor- 
inth and  Patrse  may  be  regarded  as  an  intimation,  that  the 
Arcadians  disposed  of  their  wool  in  those  cities  for  exportation 
to  foreign  countries. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  important  share,  which  Mercury 
had  in  the  religious  sentiments  and  observances  of  the  Arca- 
dians, the  proper  god  of  the  shepherds  of  Arcadia  was  Pan,  and 
we  have  already  had  abundant  evidence  to  suggest  the  convic- 
tion, that  their  songs  and  dances  were  performed  principally  in 
honor  of  him,  and  were  supposed  to  be  taught,  guided,  and 
animated  by  him. 

Arcadia  has  for  many  centuries  exhibited  a  most  melancholy 
contrast  to  that  condition  of  hardy  and  yet  peaceful  independ- 
ence, of  rustic  simplicity  united  with  tasteful  elegance,  of  so- 
cial kindness  and  domestic  enjoyment  undisturbed  by  the  proj- 
ects of  ambition,  which  has  supplied  many  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful pictures  to  the  writers  of  poetry  and  romance.    The  great 


*  Pans.  L  v.  27.  5.  and  1.  viii.  14.  7. 


252 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


natural  features  of  the  country  are  unalterable.  The  pine-for- 
ests of  Lyceeus,  its  deep  glens  continually  refreshed  with  spark- 
ling streams  and  cataracts,  its  savage  precipices  where  scarce 
even  a  goat  can  climb,  remain  in  their  original  beauty  and 
grandeur.  This  region  also  affords  pasture  to  flocks  of  sheep 
more  numerous  than  those  which  feed  in  any  other  part  of 
Greece*.  But  whatever  depends  on  the  moral  nature  of  man 
is  changed.  The  valleys,  once  richly  cultivated  and  tenanted 
by  an  overflowing  population,  are  scarcely  kept  in  tillage. 
The  noble  cities  are  traced  only  by  their  scattered  ruins.  The 
few  descendants  of  the  ancient  Arcades  have  crouched  beneath 
a  degrading  tyranny.  The  thick  forests  and  awful  caverns 
but  a  few  years  ago  served  to  shelter  fierce  banditti ;  and  the 
traveller  startled  at  the  sound  of  their  fire-arms  instead  of  being 
charmed  with  the  sweet  melody  of  the  syrinxt.  But  a  new 
dynasty  has  been  established  under  the  sanction  of  the  most 
powerful  and  enlightened  nations  of  Europe.  It  remains  to  be 
seen  whether  this  or  any  other  part  of  Greece  will  again  be- 
come wise,  virtuous,  and  renowned.  The  philanthropist,  who 
amidst  the  gloom  and  desolation  of  the  moral  world  depends 
with  confidence  upon  an  all-wise  and  all-disposing  Providence, 
may  console  himself  with  the  hope,  that  that  great  Being  who 
bestowed  such  inestimable  blessings  upon  Arcadian  shepherds  in 
their  ignorance,  will  not  abandon  those  of  their  descendants, 
who  with  superior  means  of  knowledge,  aim  at  corresponding 
attainments  in  the  excellencies  of  political,  social,  and  private  life. 
According  to  the  representation  in  the  Odyssey  (xiv.  100.) 


*  Bartholdy,  Bruchstiicke  ziir  Kenntniss  des  heut.    Griechenlands,  p.  238. 

t  DodwelPs  Tour,  vol.  ii.  p.  388-393.  Leake's  Travels  in  the  Morea,  vol.  i.  p. 
486-490.  The  latter  author  gives  the  following  account  of  a  visit  which  he  paid 
to  the  family  of  a  shepherd,  consisting  of  twelve  or  fifteen  individuals,  who  lived 
together  in  a  tent  on  Mount  Lycaeus : — "  Milk  and  misithra  (a  preparation  made 
by  boiling  milk  and  whey  together)  is  their  usual  food.  '  We  have  milk  in  plen- 
ty,' they  tell  me,  *  but  no  bread.'  Such  is  the  life  of  a  modern  Arcadian  shep- 
herd, who  has  almost  reverted  to  the  balanephagous  state  of  his  primitive  ances- 
tors (Orac.  Pyth.  ap.  Pausan.  Arcad.  c.  42.).  The  children,  however,  all  look 
healthy  and  are  handsome,  having  large  black  eyes  and  regular  features  with 
very  dark  complexion." 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OP  THE  ANCIENTS. 


253 


Ulysses  had  twelve  flocks  of  sheep,  and  as  many  of  goats  on  the 
continent  opposite  to  Ithaca.  At  a  much  later  period  Neoptol- 
emus,  a  king  of  Molossis,  in  possession  of  flocks  and  herds, 
which  were  superintended  by  a  distinct  officer  appointed  for  the 
purpose*.  In  Macedonia  also  the  king,  though  living  in  a  state 
of  so  little  refinement  that  his  queen  baked  the  bread  for  the 
whole  household,  was  possessed  at  an  early  period  of  flocks  of 
sheep  and  goats  together  with  horses  and  herds  of  oxen, 
which  were  entrusted  to  the  care  of  separate  officers.  We  are  - 
informed  that  three  Argive  brothers,  having  taken  refuge  in  the 
upper  part  of  Macedonia  bordering  upon  Illyria,  became  hired 
servants  to  the  king,  one  of  them  having  the  custody  of  the 
horses,  another  of  the  oxen,  and  a  third  of  the  sheep  and 
goatst.  Here  then  we  find  in  Europe  a  state  of  society  analo- 
gous to  that  which)  as  we  have  seen,  existed  in  Palestine 
under  David.  Indeed  we  may  observe,  that  all  the  countries 
bordering  on  Macedonia  were  contrasted  with  Attica  and  Arca- 
dia in  this  respect,  that,  while  the  Athenians  and  Arcadians 
were  in  general  small  landed  proprietors,  each  shepherd  tending 
his  flock  upon  his  own  ground,  PhrygiaJ,  Thrace,  Macedonia, 
Epirus,  and  even  Bceotia  belonged  probably  to  an  aristocracy, 
the  richest  and  most  powerful  individuals  of  which  became 
shepherd  kings,  their  landed  possessions  giving  them  a  superi- 
ority over  the  rest  of  their  countrymen,  and  leading  to  the  em- 
ployment of  numerous  persons  as  their  servants  engaged  in 
tending  their  cattle  and  in  other  rural  occupations. 

Respecting  the  attention  paid  to  sheep-breeding  in  Epirus 
we  have  the  testimony  of  Varro  in  his  treatise  De  Re  Rustica. 
He  informs  us  (ii.  2.)  that  it  was  usual  there  to  have  one  man 
to  take  care  of  100  coarse-wooled  sheep  (oves  hirtce),  and  two 
men  for  the  same  number  of  "  oves  pellitce"  or  sheep  which 
wore  skins.  The  attention  bestowed  upon  dogs  is  an  indirect 
evidence  of  the  care  which  was  devoted  to  flocks.    It  is  worthy 


*  Piutarchi  Pyrrhus,  p.  705.  ed.  Steph. 
t  Herod,  viii.  137. 

X  Theopompus,  as  quoted  by  Servius  on  Virgil,  Buc.  vi.  13,  makes  mention  of 
the  shepherds,  who  kept  the  flocks  of  Midas,  king  of  Phrygia. 


254 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


of  remark,  that  the  dogs  used  to  guard  the  flocks  in  the  modern 
Albania,  appear  to  be  the  genuine  descendants  of  the  ancient 
"  canes  Molossici,"  being  distinguished  by  their  size  as  well  as 
by  their  strength  and  ferocity*.  Further  notices  respecting 
them  may  be  found  in  Virgil's  Georgics,  L  iii.  404-413,  and  in 
the  Notes  of  his  editors  and  translators,  Heyne,  Martyn,  and 
J.  H.  Voss.  See  also  iElian  de  Nat.  An.  iii.  2.  and  Plautus, 
Capt.  1.  i.  18. 

There  is  another  important  circumstance,  in  which  probably 
the  habits  of  the  modern  shepherds  of  Albania  are  similar  to 
those  of  the  ancient  occupants  of  the  same  region,  viz.  the  an- 
nual practice  of  resorting  to  the  high  grounds  in  summer  and 
returning  to  the  plains  in  winter,  which  prevails  both  here  and 
in  most  mountainous  countries  devoted  to  sheep-breeding.  The 
following  extract  from  Dr.  Holland's  Travels  in  the  Ionian  Isles, 
Albania,  &c.  (p.  91-93.),  gives  a  lively  representation  of  this 
proceeding : 

"  When  advanced  eight  or  nine  miles  on  our  journey  (from  Cinque  Pozzi  to 
Joannina;  October  31st,  1813,)  and  crossing  another  ridge  of  high  and  broken 
land,  we  were  highly  interested  in  a  spectacle,  which  by  a  fortunate  incident  oc- 
curred to  our  notice.  We  met  on  the  road  a  community  of  migrating  shepherds, 
a  wandering  people  of  the  mountains  of  Albania,  who  in  the  summer  feed  their 
flocks  in  these  hilly  regions,  and  in  the  winter  spread  them  over  the  plains  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Gulph  of  Arta  and  along  other  parts  of  the  coast.  The  many 
large  flocks  of  sheep  we  had  met  the  day  before  belonged  to  these  people,  and 
were  preceding  them  to  the  plains.  The  cavalcade  we  now  passed  through  was 
nearly  two  miles  in  length  with  few  interruptions.  The  number  of  horses  with 
the  emigrants  might  exceed  a  thousand ;  they  were  chiefly  employed  in  carrying 
the  moveable  habitations  and  the  various  goods  of  the  community,  which  were 
packed  with  remarkable  neatness  and  uniformityf.  The  infants  and  smaller  chil- 
dren were  variously  attached  to  the  luggage,  while  the  men,  women,  and  elder 
children  travelled  for  the  most  part  on  foot ;  a  healthy  and  masculine  race  of  peo- 
ple, but  strongly  marked  by  the  wild  and  uncouth  exterior  connected  with  their 
manner  of  life.  The  greater  part  of  the  men  were  clad  in  coarse  white  woollen 
garments  ;  the  females  in  the  same  material,  but  more  curiously  colored,  and 
generally  with  some  ornamented  lacing  about  the  breast."  He  then  adds, 
"  These  migratory  tribes  of  shepherds  generally  come  down  from  the  moun- 
tains about  the  latter  end  of  October,  and  return  thither  from  the  plains  in  April, 

*  Holland's  Travels,  p.  443.    Hughes's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  483,  484.  496. 
t  No  one  has  described  this  pastoral  migration  more  minutely  or  more  beauti- 
fully, than  Mr.  Charles  Fellows,  in  his  Discoveries  in  Lycia. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


255 


after  disposing  of  a  certain  proportion  of  their  sheep  and  horses.  In  travelling, 
they  pass  the  night  on  the  plains  or  open  lands.  Arrived  at  the  place  of  their 
destination,  they  construct  their  little  huts  or  tents  of  the  materials  they  carry 
with  them,  assisted  by  the  stones,  straw,  or  earth,  which  they  find  on  the  spot." 

According  to  Dr.  Sibthorp  (in  Walpolds  Memoirs,  p.  141.), 
"  a  wandering  tribe  of  Nomads"  on  the  other  side  of  Greece 
drive  their  flocks  from  the  mountains  of  Thessaly  into  the 
plains  of  Attica  and  Boeotia  to  pass  the  winter.  "  They  give 
some  pecuniary  consideration  to  the  Pasha  of  Negropont  and 
Vaivode  of  Athens.  These  people  are  much  famed  for  their 
woollen  manufactures,  particularly  the  coats  or  cloaks  worn  by 
the  Greek  sailors." 


CHAPTER  II. 


SHEEP-BREEDING  AND  PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS 
—ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  &c. 

Sheep-breeding  in  Sicily — Bucolic  poetry — Sheep -breeding  in  South  Italy — -An- 
nual migration  of  the  flocks — The  ram  employed  to  aid  the  shepherd  in  con- 
ducting his  flock — The  ram  an  emblem  of  authority — Bells — Ancient  inscription 
at  Sepino — Use  of  music  by  ancient  shepherds — Superior  quality  of  Tarentine 
sheep — Testimony  of  Columella — Distinction  of  the  coarse  and  soft  kinds — 
Names  given  to  sheep — Supposed  effect  of  the  water  of  rivers  on  wool — Sheep- 
breeding  in  South  Italy,  Tarentum,  and  Apulia — Brown  and  red  wool — Sheep- 
breeding  in  North  Italy — Wool  of  Parma,  Modena,  Mantua,  and  Padua — Ori- 
gin of  sheep-breeding  in  Italy — Faunus  the  same  with  Pan — Ancient  sculptures 
exhibiting  Faunus — Bales  of  wool  and  the  shepherd's  dress — Costume,  appear- 
ance, and  manner  of  life  of  the  ancient  Italian  shepherds. 

Still  shall  o'er  all  prevail  the  shepherd's  stores, 
For  numerous  uses  known ;  none  yield  such  warmth, 
Such  beauteous  hues  receive,  so  long  endure  ; 
So  pliant  to  the  loom,  so  various,  none. — Dyer. 

We  now  pass  over  to  Sicily.  The  pastoral  life  of  the  Sicil- 
ians was  marked  by  peculiar  characters  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Arcadians.  The  bucolic  poems  of  Theocritus  represent  many 
of  its  circumstances  in  the  most  lively  colors  ;  and,  while  their 
dramatic  spirit  and  vivacity  are  unrivalled,  they  seem  to  be 
most  exact  copies  of  nature,  the  dialogues  which  they  contain 
being  in  the  style,  the  language,  and  the  precise  dialect  of  the 
Sicilian  shepherds,  and  indeed  only  differing  from  their  real 
conversation  by  being  composed  in  hexameters.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  that  the  mountains  and  pastures  of  Sicily  were 
browsed  by  goats  and  oxen  as  well  as  by  sheep.  These  ani- 
mals were,  however,  under  distinct  keepers,  called  respectively 
Shepherds,  Goatherds,  and  Herdsmen.  But  the  tastes,  manner 
of  life,  and  the  superstitions  of  these  three  classes  of  rustics  ap- 
pear to  have  been  undistinguishable.  They  were  probably  not 
always  independent  proprietors  of  the  soil,  but  in  many  cases 
the  servants  of  a  landed  aristocracy  who  lived  in  Syracuse  and 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


257 


other  splendid  cities.  They  appear,  however,  to  have  enjoyed 
far  greater  comforts  and  advantages  than  the  corresponding 
class  of  hired  laborers  in  the  countries  to  the  north  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesus and  of  Attica.  In  composing  pastoral  verses  and  in 
playing  on  the  pipe  and  the  syrinx  they  probably  equalled  the 
Arcadians.  Whilst  they  were  watching  their  flocks  and  herds, 
it  was  a  frequent  amusement  with  them  for  two  persons  to  con- 
tend for  a  stipulated  prize,  such  as  a  goat,  a  carved  wooden 
bowl,  or  a  syrinx,  which  was  to  be  awarded  by  an  appointed 
judge  to  him  who  most  excelled  either  in  instrumental  music, 
or  in  singing  alternate  and  extemporaneous  verses*. 

That  this  elegant  recreation  was  of  Sicilian  origin  we  have 
clear  and  abundant  evidence.  Bion  {Idyll  vii.  1.)  calls  pasto- 
ral poetry  "  a  Sicilian  strain  which  certainly  implies,  that  of 
all  places  where  the  Greek  language  was  used  Sicily  was  the 
most  noted  for  it,  and  that  in  fact  it  properly  belonged  to  Sicily. 
So  Moschus  {Idyll  iii.)  speaks  of  "  the  Sicilian  muses ;"  and 
throughout  this  Idyll,  which  is  the  lament  of  Moschus  on  the 
death  of  Bion,  he  repeatedly  speaks  of  the  pastoral  poetry,  such 
as  Bion  cultivated,  as  proper  to  Sicily.  In  Virgil's  Bucolics  we 
find  frequent  allusions  to  the  same  acknowledged  fact.  Thus 
he  says, 


*  According  to  the  learned  German  traveller,  Baron  Riedesel,  the  custom  was 
not  extinct  in  his  time  ;  for  in  his  Travels  through  Sicily,  page  148  of  Forster's 
English  translation,  he  says,  "  The  shepherds  still  sing  with  emulation  to  gain  the 
crook  or  the  purse,  which  is  the  prize  of  the  best  performer."  Nevertheless,  the 
modern  can  be  only  a  very  faint  imitation  of  the  ancient  practice  ;  for  thus  the 
same  author  speaks  in  other  passages. 

"  Here  I  had  an  opportunity  of  pitying  the  wretched  situation  of  modern  Sicily 
in  comparison  with  what  it  was  in  former  ages.  Many  towns  and  different  na- 
tions are  destroyed ;  immense  riches  are  dissipated ;  the  whole  island  can  at  pres- 
ent scarce  show  1,200,000  inhabitants,  the  number  which  Syracuse  alone  for- 
merly had.  Many  beautiful  spots,  which  used  to  produce  corn  and  fruits,  are  now 
deserted  for  want  of  laborers ;  many  spacious  ports  are  without  any  ships  for  want 
of  trade  ;  and  many  people  want  bread,  whilst  the  nobility  and  the  monks  are  in 
possession  of  all  the  lands."    p.  112,  113. 

"  To  conclude,  the  climate,  the  soil,  and  the  fruits  of  the  country  are  as  perfect 
as  ever.  But  the  precious  Greek  liberty,  population,  power,  magnificence,  and 
good  taste,  are  now  not  to  be  met  with  as  in  former  times,  and  the  present  inhab- 
itants can  only  say,  Fuimus  Troes."    p.  151 

33 


258 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


"  I  will  set  my  verses  to  the  tune  of  a  Sicilian  shepherd." 

Buc.  x.  51. 

The  historian  Diodorus,  himself  a  Sicilian,  who  lived  about 
the  commencement  of  the  Christian  sera,  supposes  bucolic  poet- 
ry and  music  to  be  the  peculiar  invention  and  exercise  of  his 
own  country,  and  says,  that  it  continued  in  use  at  his  time  and 
was  held  in  the  same  estimation  as  formerly*.  In  less  than 
200  years  from  this  period  the  art  lost  much  of  its  original  sim- 
plicity. Maximus  Tyrius  (Diss,  xxi.)  says,  that  "the  Dori- 
ans of  Sicily  became,  to  use  the  mildest  term,  more  weak  in 
understanding"  (more  dissolute)  "  when  instead  of  the  simple 
Alpine  music,  which  they  used  to  employ  in  the  presence  of 
their  flocks  and  herds,  they  began  to  love  the  tunes  of  the  Syb- 
arites, and  a  style  of  dancing  adapted  to  them,  such  as  was  re- 
quired by  the  Ionic  pipe." 

But,  although  the  rustic  Dorians  of  Sicily  had  the  full  credit 
of  this  invention  and  were  never  surpassed  in  the  practice  of  it 
by  any  other  people,  yet  the  imitation  of  it  was  attempted  in 
various  instances  by  the  pastoral  inhabitants  of  other  countries. 
More  especially,  it  appears  to  have  been  adopted  in  the  neigh- 
boring district  of  Magna  Grsecia ;  for  it  is  near  Sybaris  that 
Theocritus  has  placed  the  scene  of  his  Fifth  Idyll,  in  which,  a 
shepherd  having  staked  a  lamb  and  a  goatherd  a  kid,  they 
contend  in  alternate  verses,  whilst  a  wood-cutter,  whom  they 
have  called  from  his  labor,  listens  as  judge,  and  awards  the 
prize  to  the  goatherd,  who  hereupon  joyfully  sacrifices  his  new- 
ly acquired  lamb  to  the  Nymphs. 

In  the  Seventh  Idyll  (v.  12,  27,  40.)  Theocritus  mentions 
the  goatherd,  Lycidas  of  Crete,  who  was  his  contemporary, 
and  also  his  predecessors  and  supposed  instructors,  Asclepiades 
of  Samos,  and  Philetas  of  Cos,  as  distinguished  for  skill  in 
pastoral  music. 

The  bucolic  poems  of  Theocritus  prove,  that  the  Arcadian 
belief  in  the  attributes  of  Pan  had  extended  itself  into  Sicily 
and  the  South  of  Italy,  so  that  the  rustics  of  those  countries 
not  only  invoked  him  by  name,  but  even  sometimes  offered 


*  L.  iv.  c.  84,  p.  283. 


PASTORAL   LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


259 


sacrifices  to  him.  Thus,  in  Idyll  v.  58,  the  Lucanian  goatherd 
already  referred  to  says,  that  he  will  set  aside  for  Pan  eight 
dishes  of  milk  and  six  of  honey. 

But  besides  importing  the  belief  in  Pan  from  Arcadia  the 
Sicilians  recognized  two  demigods  of  native  origin,  who  con- 
tributed, if  not  to  excite  feelings  allied  to  religion,  at  least  to 
amuse  their  imagination  and  to  contribute  greatly  to  the  va- 
riety and  liveliness  of  their  poetry.  These  were  the  shepherd 
Polyphemus,  who  was  horridly  deformed,  and  the  herdsman 
Daphnis,  who  was  endowed  with  the  most  surpassing  beauty. 

Polyphemus  was  the  son  of  Neptune.  Notwithstanding  his 
forbidden  aspect  he  is  represented  as  susceptible  of  some  tender 
emotions,  and  it  is  his  misfortune  to  be  deeply  enamored  of  the 
beautiful  Nereid  or  Mermaid  Galatea,  whom  he  sees  sporting 
in  the  green  waves,  while  he  surveys  the  coast  from  the  sum- 
mit of  a  mountain  and  plays  upon  the  syrinx  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  himself  and  his  flock*. 

The  Sicilian  Daphnis,  like  the  Arcadian  Pan,  was  the  son 
of  Mercury  and  of  a  mountain  nymph,  and  excelled  in  playing 
on  the  syrinx ;  but  his  form  was  entirely  human  and  the  most 
beautiful  that  could  be  imagined. 

The  guardian  of  fair  kine,  himself  more  fair. 

Virg.  Buc.  v.  44. 

He  tended  his  cattle  upon  the  picturesque  Heraean  mountains 
to  the  north  of  .Etna,  and  did  not  mix  in  the  society  of  men. 
At  the  time  when  the  beard  was  beginning  to  grow  on  his  up- 
per lip,  the  nymph  Echenais  became  enamored  of  him,  and 
enjoined  him  upon  pain  of  losing  his  eye-sight  not  to  approach 
any  other  female.  He  consented,  and  for  some  time  persisted 
in  obeying  her ;  but  at  length  a  Sicilian  princess,  having  in- 
toxicated him  with  wine,  accomplished  her  purpose.  He  shared 
the  fate  of  Thamyras,  the  Thracian,  and  was  thus  punished 
for  his  follyt.    He  then  pined  away,  and  died  of  hopeless  love 


*  Theocritus,  Idyll  vi.  and  xi.  Lucian,  Dial.  Doridis  et  Galateae.  Ovid,  Met. 
L.  xiii.  739-870. 

t  Timseus,  author  of  the  Hist,  of  Sicily,  as  quoted  by  Parthenius,  c.  29.  iElian, 
Var.  Hist.  L.  x.  c.  18.    Diod.  Sic.  L.  iv.  c.  84.  p.  283. 


260 


SHEEP   BREEDING  AND 


for  the  nymph,  whom  he  had  offended*.  According  to  Virgil 
(Bite.  v.  56-71.)  he  was  raised  to  the  stars,  and  sacrifices 
were  offered  to  him  by  the  shepherds. 

Daphnis  was  the  frequent  subject  of  pastoral  poetry,  being 
regarded  as  an  ideal  representation  of  the  perfection  of  the 
shepherd's  culture  and  manner  of  life.  Of  this  we  have  a 
proof  in  the  epigram  of  Callimachus  on  the  death  of  Astacides, 
and  which  concludes  thus :  "  We  (shepherds)  will  no  longer 
sing  of  Daphnis,  but  of  Astacides."  The  poet's  design  was  to 
extol  Astacides,  by  comparing  him  with  Daphnis.  According 
to  iElian  (I.  c.)  the  first  bucolic  poems  related  to  the  blindness 
of  Daphnis  and  its  cause ;  and  the  first  poet,  who  composed 
verses  upon  this  subject,  was  Stesichorus  of  Himera  in  Sicily. 
In  Theocritus  the  allusions  to  the  beautiful  story  of  Daphnis 
are  very  frequentt,  and  his  sad  fate  is  described  at  length  by 
contending  shepherds  or  goatherds  in  the  First  and  Seventh 
Idylls.  We  shall  quote  only  his  dying  words,  where  he  calls 
on  Pan  to  leave  the  great  Msenalus  and  the  long  ridges  of 
Lycaeus,  and  to  come  to  Sicily  in  order  to  receive  from  his  own 
hand  the  syrinx,  on  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  play. 

vEy0'  o>i/a£,  Kai  rdvSs  (pip1  evnaKTOio  fxtX'nrvovv 
'Ek  Krjpco  avpiyya  Ka\a.v}  -rrepl  %fa\os  sXiktolv 
'H  yap  lyuiv  vtc*  ipoiros  £S  aSav  e\K0[xai  ¥/6ri. 

Come,  mighty  king,  come,  Pan,  and  take  my  pipe, 
Well  join'd  with  wax  and  fitted  to  my  lip ; 
For  now  'tis  useless  grown,  Love  stops  my  breath, 
I  cannot  pipe,  but  must  be  mute  in  death. 

Creech's  Translation. 

Pliny  informs  us,  that  in  his  time  the  wool  of  Apulia  was 
in  the  highest  repute ;  that  throughout  the  South  of  Italy  the 
best  sheep  were  bred  in  the  vicinity  of  Tarentum  and  Canu- 
sium ;  and  that  the  wool  of  Tarentum  was  admired  for  its 
tinge  of  black,  and  that  of  Canusium  for  its  fine  brown  or  yel- 
low colort 


*  Theocritus,  Idyll  i.  66-141.  and  vii.  72-77. 

t  Idyll  v.  20.    See  also  v.  80.    In  Idyll  vi.  Daphnis  is  one  of  the  performers, 
and  gives  a  description  of  Galatea, 
t  See  Appendix  A. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


261 


The  directions  for  the  management  of  sheep,  given  by  Var- 
ro, Columella,  Virgil,  and  other  writers  on  rural  affairs,  all  tend 
to  show  the  pains  taken  by  the  Romans  to  improve  the  breed 
of  sheep,  and  especially  to  produce  wool  of  the  finest  quality. 

The  first  of  these  authors  (De  Re  Rustica,  L.  ii.  Prof.) 
mentions  his  own  flocks  of  sheep  in  Apulia.  It  appears  from 
his  account  that  every  man  was  obliged  to  report  the  number 
of  his  sheep  to  the  publican  and  to  have  them  inscribed  in  a 
register,  the  earliest  allusion,  to  a  code  of  laws,  which  may 
probably  have  been  in  some  respects  similar  to  that  now  called 
"  La  Mesta"  in  Spain.  Varro  further  speaks  expressly  of  the 
summer  and  winter  migrations  of  the  flocks  ;  and  to  show  the 
great  distances  to  which  they  were  conducted  on  these  occa- 
sions, he  states  that  the  sheep  of  Apulia  were  taken  every 
year  to  pass  the  summer  in  the  mountains  of  Samnium,  and 
sometimes  even  in  those  of  Reate*. 

Of  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  these  annual  migrations 
we  are  enabled  to  form  some  judgment,  not  only  from  the  ani- 
mated description  already  quoted  from  Dr.  Holland  in  relation 
to  Albania,  but  still  more  distinctly  from  the  following  accounts 
by  the  Honorable  Keppel  Craven,  one  of  which  relates  to  the 
first  group  of  mountains  mentioned  by  Varro,  the  other  to  the 
second. 

In  the  year  1818  Mr.  Craven  visited  a  large  farm  a  few 
miles  to  the  south  of  Foggia,  and  consequently  not  far  from  the 
site  of  the  ancient  Arpi  in  Apulia.  He  mentions  the  follow- 
ing particulars. 

"  Above  200  persons  were  employed,  and  resided  on  the  spot.  The  stock  of 
eheep  consisted  of  8000,  divided  into  several  flocks  ;  to  which  those  of  cows,  goats, 
and  buffaloes,  together  with  a  set  of  brood  mares  and  a  suitable  quantity  of  poul- 
try, bore  an  equivalent  proportion.  All  the  cattle  are  guarded  by  large  milk-white 
dogs  of  the  Abruzzo  breed.  These  animals  are  very  handsome  and  resemble  the 
Newfoundland  species,  but  have  sharper  noses ;  they  are  very  intelligent  and 
equally  fierce.  The  flocks  are  tended  by  natives  of  Abruzzo,  who  also  undertake 
the  care  of  milking  them,  as  well  as  making  the  cheese,  &c. ;  they  are  assisted 
by  their  wives  and  children,  who  accompany  them  in  their  yearly  migrations  to 
and  from  the  mountains.    These  shepherds  are  clothed  in  the  skins  of  the  animals 


*  De  Re  Rustica,  L.  ii.  c.  1.  p.  161.  ed.  Bip.    See  also,  c.  2.  p.  167. 


262 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


which  they  watch,  and  are  reckoned  a  quiet,  attentive,  frugal,  and  trust-worthy 
race."  Tour  through  the  southern  Provinces  of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples,  by  the 
Honorable  Keppel  Craven,  p.  80. 

The  scene  of  the  following  extract  is  the  valley  of  the 
Aternus,  descending  from  the  region  of  the  highest  Apennines, 
the  "  montes  Reatini"  of  Varro,  not  very  remote  from  the  ruins 
of  his  farm  and  villa,  (These  ruins  are  described  at  page  45  of 
the  volume  from  which  this  passage  is  extracted.),  and  proceed- 
ing towards  the  sites  of  the  modern  Aquila  and  of  the  ancient 
Amiternum. 

"  One  of  the  broad  tratturos,  or  cattle-patKs,  runs  in  the  same  line  with  the 
high-road  to  Aquila ;  and  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  see  it  occupied  by  a  very  ex- 
tended line  of  flocks,  which  slowly  passed  by  the  carriage  for  the  space  of  a  mile 
or  more.  The  word  '  fortunate '  adapted  to  such  a  spectacle,  may  excite  a  smile 
in  my  readers ;  but  I  own  that  I  never  beheld  one  of  these  numerous  animal  con- 
gregations plodding  across  the  flats  of  Capitanata,  or  the  valleys  of  Abruzzo,  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  without  experiencing  a  sensation  of  a  novel  and  exci- 
ting kind,  nearly  allied  to  that  of  enjoyment,  but  which  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
account  for. 

"  One  shepherd  heads  each  division  of  cattle,  of  which  he  has  the  peculiar  care 
and  direction.  Armed  with  his  crook,  he  walks  some  paces  in  advance  of  his 
flock,  followed  by  an  old  ram  termed  il  manso  ;  which  word,  meaning  tame  or 
instructed,  has  undoubtedly  a  more  apposite  signification  than  that  of  our  bell- 
wether, though  he  is,  as  well  as  ours,  furnished  with  a  large  deep-toned  bell. 

"  The  sheep  march  in  files  of  about  twelve  in  each  ;  and  every  battalion,  if  I 
may  so  call  it,  is  attended  by  six  or  eight  dogs,  according  to  its  number ;  these 
accompanying  the  herd,  walking  at  the  head,  middle,  and  rear  of  each  flank. 
The  beauty  and  docility  of  these  animals,  which  are  usually  white,  has  often  been 
described,  and  their  demeanor  is  gentle  as  long  as  the  objects  of  their  solicitude 
are  unmolested,  but  at  night  they  are  so  savage,  that  it  would  be  dangerous  to 
approach  the  fold  they  guard. 

"  The  goats,  which  bear  a  very  small  proportion  to  the  sheep,  and  are  in  gen- 
eral black,  wind  up  the  array,  and  evince  their  superior  intelligence  by  lying  down 
whenever  a  temporary  halt  takes  place.  The  cows  and  mares  travel  in  separate 
bodies.  A  certain  number  of  these  flocks,  commonly  those  belonging  to  the  same 
proprietor,  are  under  the  immediate  management  and  inspection  of  an  agent,  en- 
titled fattore,  who  accompanies  them  on  horseback,  armed  with  a  musket,  and 
better  clad  than  the  shepherds,  who,  both  in  summer  and  winter,  wear  Ihe  large 
sheep-skin  jacket,  and  are  in  other  respects  provided  with  substantial  though 
homely  attire,  including  good  strong  shoes. 

"  These  Fattores  are  all  natives  of  Abruzzo,  an  Apulian  never  having  been 
known  to  undertake  the  profession :  the  former,  through  particular  habits  and  the 
repeated  experience  of  years,  are  looked  upon  as  so  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  care 
required  by  cattle,  and  indeed  animals  of  all  kinds,  that  all  the  helpers  in  the  sta- 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OP  THE  ANCIENTS. 


263 


bles  of  the  capital  are  natives  of  these  provinces,  or  of  the  adjoining  county  of 
Molise.  In  addition  to  these  qualifications,  they  are  esteemed  an  abstemious  and 
honest  race. 

"  When  following  the  calling  of  shepherds,  and  occupied,  as  I  saw  them,  in  the 
duties  of  their  charge  in  travelling,  their  countenances  are  almost  invariably 
marked  by  the  same  expression,  which  combines  mildness  and  sagacity  with  im- 
movable gravity,  and,  it  is  painful  to  add,  a  look  of  deep-seated  sadness ;  the 
whole  caravan,  animal  as  well  as  human,  exhibiting,  at  least  while  engaged  in 
one  of  those  tedious  peregrinations,  a  general  appearance  of  suffering  and  de- 
pression, distinguishable  in  every  individual  that  composes  it.  The  shepherd  that 
opens  the  march,  the  independent  manso  jingling  his  brazen  bell,  the  flocks  that 
follow,  the  dogs  that  watch  over  their  security,  and  even  the  Fattore  who  directs 
the  procession,  all  appear  to  be  plodding  through  a  wearisome  existence  of  monot- 
ony and  toil.  The  extreme  slowness  of  their  progress,  the  downcast  expression  of 
every  head  and  eye,  and,  above  all,  the  indications  of  exhaustion  and  fatigue 
which  are  but  too  perceptible  after  a  journey  of  more  than  a  month's  duration, 
may  well  account  for  this  impression. 

**  The  animals  suffer  greatly  from  heat  until  they  reach  their  summer  dwelling, 
and  full  as  much  from  lameness,  which,  when  it  has  reached  a  certain  pitch,  be- 
comes the  signal  for  destruction.  I  saw  a  mule  bearing  no  other  load  than  the 
skins  of  those  that  had  perished  in  this  manner. 

"  Several  other  beasts  of  burden  follow  the  rear  of  the  herds,  laden  with  the  va- 
rious articles  necessary  for  them  and  their  guardians  during  their  protracted 
march :  these  consist  in  the  nets  and  poles  requisite  to  pen  the  folds  at  night,  the 
coarse  cloth  tents  for  the  use  of  the  shepherds,  and  a  limited  stock  of  utensils  for 
milking,  and  boiling  the  produce  of  the  flock.  Among  these  are  to  be  noticed 
some  portable  jointed  seats  of  very  ingenious  though  simple  construction,  com- 
posed of  the  stems  of  the  giant  fennel,  a  substance  remarkable  for  its  light  and 
compact  texture. 

"  The  cattle  which  I  thus  met  near  Aquila  were  within  two  days'  journey  of 
their  resting-place,  which  is  generally  in  some  of  the  valleys  placed  on  the  lower 
flanks  of  the  mountain  ridges,  but  sufficiently  elevated  above  the  larger  plains  to 
afford  fresh  and  abundant  herbage  and  a  cooler  temperature. 

"  The  duration  of  their  abode  in  these  regions  is  regulated  by  the  rapid  or  slow 
progression  of  the  summer  season  ;  in  the  course  of  which  they  shift  their  quar- 
ters, as  the  heat  increases,  till  they  reach  the  highest  spots,  which  are  the  last  di- 
vested of  the  deep  snows,  in  which  they  have  been  buried  during  three  quarters 
of  the  year.  Here  large  tracts  of  the  finest  pasture,  rills  of  the  coldest  and  purest 
water,  and  shady  woods  of  considerable  extension,  are  occupied  by  them  during 
the  remainder  of  the  fine  weather,  and  afford  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  enjoyment  al- 
lotted to  an  existence  of  such  restricted  variety."  Excursions  in  the  Abruzzi  by 
the  Honorable  Keppel  Craven.    London,  1838,  vol.  i.  p.  259-264. 

The  account,  given  in  the  second  paragraph  of  this  extract, 
of  the  shepherd  marching  at  the  head  of  his  battalion  of  sheep 
illustrates  in  a  striking  manner  the  remark  made  respecting 


264 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


the  comparison  of  kings  to  shepherds,  and  to  their  leading  rams 
in  Homer  and  in  the  Scriptures. 

The  Greek  word  KwAo?,  originally  an  adjective,  corresponds 
exactly  to  the  Italian  manso.  It  appears  to  have  been  appli- 
cable to  all  trained  tame  animals.  Hence  it  was  used  specially 
to  denote  the  large  and  powerful  ram,  which  was  instructed  to 
assist  the  shepherd  in  disposing  the  sheep  in  proper  order  and 
in  leading  them  to  and  from  their  daily  pasture  as  well  as  du- 
ring their  long  migrations.  In  the  third  book  of  the  Iliad  (I. 
196-198),  where  Priam  is  described  surveying  the  Greek  troops 
from  the  Scaean  gate,  after  the  account  of  Agamemnon,  who 
was  considered  as  their  shepherd,  we  find  Ulysses,  who  was 
inferior  to  him  both  in  rank  and  in  stature,  represented  as  his 
manso,  that  is,  as  the  ram,  which  immediately  follows  the  shep- 
herd and  aids  him  in  conducting  the  flock.  The  same  image 
is  repeated  in  the  thirteenth  book  (I.  492,  493),  where  Pope's 
translation,  though  very  paraphrastic,  is  an  admirable  repre- 
sentation of  the  real  circumstances. 

In  order  follow  all  th'  embodied  train, 

Like  Ida's  flocks  proceeding  o'er  the  plain  : 

Before  his  fleecy  care,  erect  and  bold, 

Stalks  the  proud  ram,  the  father  of  the  fold  ; 

With  joy  the  swain  surveys  them,  as  he  leads 

To  the  cool  fountains,  through  the  well-known  meads. 

Propertius  presents  us  with  a  similar  picture  in  the  following 
lines ; 

Corniger  Idaei  vacuam  pastoris  in  aulam 

Dux  aries  saturas  ipse  reduxit  oves.    Lib.  iii.  El.  13. 

The  fold  receives  the  sheep  on  Ida  fed, 

By  the  great  ram,  their  horned  chieftain,  led. 

Aristotle  calls  these  rams  "  the  leaders  of  the  sheep,"  and  he 
states,  that  the  shepherds  provided  for  each  flock  such  a  leader, 
which,  when  called  by  name  by  the  shepherd,  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  flock,  and  was  trained  to  execute  this  office 
from  an  early  age*.  The  employment  of  the  manso  was  prob- 
ably the  ground,  on  which  many  of  the  Orientals  adopted  the 


*  Hist.  Animal,  viii.  19. 


PASTORAL  LIFE   OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


265 


ram  as  the  emblem  of  military  authority*.  According  to  this 
supposition  it  would  rather  denote  secondary  than  supreme 
command ;  and  if  so,  the  representation  of  the  king  of  Persia 
by  the  symbol  of  a  ram  in  the  8th  chapter  of  Daniel  is  the 
more  expressive,  because  it  indicated  that  he  was  the  agent 
of  the  supreme  Deity.  Probably  also  the  same  sentiment  was 
intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  enthusiastic  Sapor,  or  Shah- 
poor  II.,  King  of  Persia  in  the  fourth  century,  when  he  rode 
to  battle  in  front  of  his  army  wearing  instead  of  a  diadem  a 
ram's  head  wrought  in  gold  and  studded  with  precious  stonest. 

Any  one,  who  has  seen  the  collection  of  ancient  bronze  bells 
in  the  Museum  at  Naples,  and  compared  them  with  those  now 
worn  in  Italy  about  the  necks  of  sheep  and  other  cattle,  will  be 
struck  with  their  similarity.  We  know  also  from  various  an- 
cient laws  and  other  evidence!  that  the  shepherds  fastened  bells 
upon  their  sheep  as  they  do  at  the  present  day. 

There  is  a  striking  correspondence  between  the  words  of 
Varro,  "crates,  retia,  cseteraque  utensilia,"  and  Craven's  ac- 
count of  the  provision  of  nets,  &c.  for  making  folds,  and  of  the 
other  necessary  utensils. 

At  Sepino,  the  ancient  Seepinum,  situated  in  the  highest  part 
of  the  mountains  of  Samnium  near  the  source  of  the  Tamarus, 
Mr.  Craven  saw  over  the  Eastern  gate  the  remains  of  a  very 
remarkable  inscription  referring  to  the  same  practice  §.  This 
inscription  has  been  accurately  published  by  Muratorill.  It 
clearly  distinguishes  between  the  "  fattores"  {conductores  gre- 
gum  oviaricorum)  and  the  shepherds  who  were  under  them 
(pastores  quos  conductores  habeni).  These  were  molested 
by  the  magistrates  of  Saepinum  and  the  neighboring  town  of 
Bovianum,  and  by  the  "  stationarii"  or  soldiers,  who,  instead 
of  being  ready  to  protect  them  in  case  of  need,  charged  them 
with  being  fugitives  and  with  cattle-stealing,  and  under  this 


*  E.  F.  K.  Rosenmuller,  Bibl.  Alterthumskunde,  iv.  2.  p.  83. 
t  Ammianus  Marceil.  xix.  1. 

I  See  note  of  Sweertius  on  the  treatise  of  Hieron.  Magius  de  Tintinnabulis, 
cap.  viii. 

§  See  Excursions  in  the  Abruzzi,  vol.  ii.  p.  135,  136. 
||  Novus  Thesaurus  Vet.  Inscriptionum,  p.  dcvi. 

34 


266 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


pretence  drove  back  even  those  sheep  which  belonged  to  the 
emperor  (oves  quoque  do?ninicas)  and  thus  greatly  injured  his 
revenue.  These  grievances  were  consequently  represented  to 
an  officer  at  Rome  Avho  kept  the  emperor's  accounts  (Cosmus, 
Augusti  Liberties  a  Rationibus) ;  and  he  writes  in  the  terms 
of  the  inscription  to  Basseus  Rufus  and  Macrinus  Vindex,  offi- 
cers of  rank  in  the  army,  in  order  that  the  evil  might  be  reme- 
died. This  inscription  must  have  been  erected  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  sera.  As  Mr.  Craven  remarks, 
"  It  not  only  corroborates  what  was  already  known,  that  the 
periodical  migration  of  the  herds  from  Apulia  is  of  most  ancient 
origin,  but  it  proves,  that  they  observed  the  same  line  of  route 
which  they  follow  to  the  present  day  ;  the  road,  that  runs  from 
the  east  to  the  western  gate  of  this  inclosure,  falling  into  the 
line  of  the  tratturos,  or  sheep-paths,  exclusively  allotted  to  the 
use  of  the  flocks  in  their  annual  journeys." 

Whilst  we  discover  these  numerous  points  of  resemblance 
between  the  ancient  and  the  modern  practice,  it  is  probable  that 
in  other  respects  there  was  a  greater  diversity.  If  the  author 
whose  observations  have  been  cited  had  witnessed  a  similar  pro- 
cession in  very  ancient  times,  he  would  have  seen  less  reason  to 
deplore  its  toilsome  and  melancholy  aspect.  Music  was  then 
probably  of  no  little  service  in  animating  both  the  shepherds 
and  their  flocks.  The  sonorous  bagpipe  may  have  contribu- 
ted to  this  effect*.  At  least  Mr.  Craven's  account  of  a  modern 
pastoral  march  is  strikingly  contrasted  with  the  following  de- 
scription by  Apollonius  Rhodius,  in  which  he  compares  the 
ship  Argo  and  the  music  of  Orpheus,  followed  by  multitudes  of 
fishes,  to  a  shepherd  playing  on  the  syrinx  and  followed  by  his 
sheep. 

*i2g  <5'  biTor  dypavkoio  Kar*  ixvta  on^oLVTYipog 
[xvpia  fifjX'  l(ps7rovTai  aSriv  KEKopr}[jL£va  no'iris 
eig  av\iv,  b  Je  t  eicri  ndpog  avpiyyi  \iyeitj 
Ka\a  [xeXi^6[xevog  vopiov  /xeXog'  &g  apa  tol  ye 
tofxdpTevv'  irrjv  <5'  ailv  l-rraeavrepog  <f)(pcv  ovpog. 

Argon,  L.  i.  575-579. 


*  According  to  Montfaucon  (Ant.  Expliquee,  Suppl.  Tom.  iii.  p.  188.)  the  bag- 
pipe was  seen  under  the  arm  of  a  shepherd  in  the  collection  of  Cardinal  Albani 
at  Rome. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


267 


As  sheep  in  flocks  thick-pasturing  on  the  plain 
Attend  the  footsteps  of  the  shepherd-swain, 
His  well-known  call  they  hear,  and  fully  fed, 
Pace  slowly  on,  their  leader  at  their  head ; 
Who  pipes  melodious,  as  he  moves  along, 
On  sprightly  reeds  his  modulated  song  : 
Thus  charm'd  with  tuneful  sounds  the  scaly  train 
Pursued  the  flying  vessel  o'er  the  main. 

Fawkes's  Translation. 

The  testimony  afforded  by  Varro  relative  to  the  management 
of  the  South- Italian  sheep,  having  been  given  and  illustrated, 
it  is  to  be  deplored  that  Italy,  once  so  renowned  for  its  sheep, 
can  now  boast  little  of  this  production  of  her  bounteous  clime. 
The  Romans,  whose  dress  was  woollen,  cultivated  in  an  espe- 
cial degree  the  fineness  of  the  fleece ;  and  it  was  not  until  the 
days  of  the  Empire  that  the  silk  and  cotton  of  the  East  began 
to  supersede  the  ancient  raiment  of  the  Roman  people.  The 
finest  wools  of  ancient  Italy  were  produced  in  Apulia  and  Cala- 
bria, being  the  eastern  parts  of  the  present  kingdom  of  Naples*. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  other  writers  on  Rural  Affairs,  viz., 
Columella  and  Palladius. 

The  first  attests  the  high  estimation  in  which  the  sheep  of 
Calabria  and  Apulia  were  held  by  the  Romans,  especially  be- 
fore his  own  time,  and  he  says  that  among  them  the  Tarentine 
sheep  were  the  best  of  all.  In  speaking  of  the  practice  so  prev- 
alent in  this  district  of  covering  them  with  skins,  he  shows, 
that  these  "oves  pellitse"  were  also  called  "soft"  (molles),  and 
u  covered"  (tectce).  Indeed  he  makes  the  great  distinction  of 
sheep  to  be  into  the  " genus  molle"  i.  e.  the  soft  kind,  and  the 
"genus  hirsutum,"  or  "hirtum,"  i.  e.  the  coarse  kind.  We 
further  learn  that  the  soft  sheep  were  called  by  the  Romans 
Greek  sheep,  because  they  wTere  bred  in  Greecia  Magna,  and 


*  It  appears  from  the  following  passage  of  Varro,  that  the  Apulian  was  sold  at 
a  higher  price  than  some  other  kinds  of  wool  which  were  equally  beautiful,  be- 
cause it  wore  better.  By  lana  Gallicana  in  this  passage  we  must  understand 
the  wool  of  Gallia  Cisalpina,  of  which  we  shall  next  treat. 

Sic  enim  lana  Gallicana  et  Appula  videtur  imperito  similis  propter  speciem, 
cum  peritus  Appulam  emat  pluris,  quod  in  usu  firmior  sit. 

De  Lin.  Lat.,  lib.  ix.  28.  p.  484.  ed.  Spengel. 


268 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


Tarentine,  because  the  best  of  all  were  bred  at  Tarentum. 
According  to  Palladius  they  were  also  sometimes  called  Asiatic 
(Asiance).  It  is  to  be  observed  that  by  Asia,  Palladius  and 
his  contemporaries  would  understand  the  celebrated  sheep- 
country  of  which  Miletus  was  the  centre*;  and  considering  the 
frequent,  long-established,  and  very  friendly  intercourse  be- 
tween Miletus  and  Tarentumt,  we  may  infer  that  the  Milesi- 
ans imported  into  Tarentum  their  fine  breed  of  sheep,  and  at 
the  same  time  introduced  the  art  of  dyeing  and  preparing  the 
wool.  The  same  sheep,  which  were  called  Greek  by  the  Ro- 
mans, were  called  Italian  by  the  Egyptians  and  others,  to 
whom  the  word  Greek  would  not  have  been  distinctive.  Col- 
umella (vii.  4.)  insists  particularly  on  the  great  pains  and  care, 
which  it  was  necessary  to  bestow  upon  this  description  of  sheep, 
the  "  covered"  or  "  soft,"  in  regard  to  food,  warmth,  and  cleanli- 
ness, and  he  says  that  they  were  principally  brought  up  in  the 
houset. 

As  there  was  in  general  a  great  affinity  between  the  manners 
and  ideas  of  Sicily  and  South  Italy,  we  might  infer  that  the 
pastoral  habits  of  these  two  districts  were  in  many  respects 
similar.  Theocritus  accordingly  lays  the  scene  of  some  of  his 
Idylls  on  the  coast  opposite  to  Sicily.  The  fifth  Idyll  describes 
a  contest  between  a  shepherd  and  a  goatherd,  who  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  employed  as  hired  servants  in  the  vicinity 
of  Sybaris.  The  shepherd,  observing  some  of  his  sheep  to  be 
feeding  on  an  oak,  which  could  not  be  very  good  for  them,  ut- 
ters the  following  exclamation,  showing  that  it  was  customary 
to  give  proper  names  to  sheep,  and  thus  confirming  the  fact, 


*  Cellarii  Ant.  Orbis  Notitia,  iii.  1.  7,  8,  9. 
t  Herod,  vi.  21.  and  Wesseling  ad  locum. 

t  According  to  Bochart  (Hieroz.  cap.  45.  p.  486,  ed.  Leusden),  the  Talmud  and 
another  rabbinical  book,  lambs  soon  after  their  birth  were  invested  with  garments 
fastened  upon  them  with  thongs  or  buckles. 

In  the  sheep -breeding  countries  of  Europe  the  practice  seems  to  have  been 
very  general.  Besides  South  Italy,  Attica,  Megaris,  and  Epirus,  in  regard  to 
which  countries  positive  evidence  has  been  produced,  we  find  that  soft  sheep,  or 
"  oves  pellitae"  were  kept  by  an  inhabitant  of  Cynethae  in  Arcadia  (Polybius,  L. 
ix.  c.  17.),  by  the  Roman  settlers  in  the  North  of  Gaul  and  in  Spain. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


269 


that  in  ancient  times  they  were  regarded  as  the  objects  of  affec- 
tion, and  not  of  profitable  speculation  merely : 

Ovk  dno  ras  Spvos  ovrog  b  J^uvapog,  5  re  J^vvatOa' 
Tovtcl  (3oaKT)aeTade  ttot  avTo\as,  w$  b  $dAapoj. 

Ho  !  Sharphorn,  Browning,  leave  those  hurtful  weeds, 
And  come  and  graze  this  way,  where  Colly  feeds. 

Creech's  Translation. 

The  passage  has  often  been  cited  in  illustration  of  the  follow- 
ing verses  from  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  Our  Savior,  describing 
himself  as  a  shepherd,  here  alludes  to  various  indications  of 
care  and  attachment,  which  distinguish  the  owner  of  a  flock 
from  the  hireling,  who,  being  engaged  to  tend  the  sheep  only 
for  a  season,  could  not  be  so  well  known  by  them,  nor  so  much 
interested  in  their  security  and  welfare. 

*  He  calleth  his  own  sheep  by  name,  and  leadeth  them  out.  And  when  he 
putteth  forth  (from  the  fold)  his  own  sheep,  he  goeth  before  them,  and  the  sheep 
follow  him ;  for  they  know  his  voice.  And  a  stranger  will  they  not  follow,  but 
will  flee  from  him :  for  they  know  not  the  voice  of  strangers." — John,  x.  3-5. 

In  reference  to  this  passage  of  Scripture  the  following  remarks 
of  a  late  traveller  are  instructive  : 

"  I  asked  my  man  if  it  was  usual  in  Greece  to  give  names  to  sheep.  He  in- 
formed me  that  it  was,  and  that  the  sheep  obeyed  the  shepherd  when  he  called 
them  by  their  names.  This  morning  (March  5,  1828),  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
verifying  the  truth  of  this  remark.  Passing  by  a  flock  of  sheep,  I  asked  the 
shepherd  the  same  question  which  I  put  to  my  servant,  and  he  gave  me  the  same 
answer.  I  then  bade  him  to  call  one  of  his  sheep.  He  did  so,  and  it  instantly 
left  its  pasturage  and  its  companions,  and  ran  up  to  the  hand  of  the  shepherd, 
with  signs  of  pleasure  and  with  a  prompt  obedience  which  I  had  never  before  ob- 
served in  any  other  animal.  It  is  also  true  of  the  sheep  in  this  country,  that  a 
stranger  will  they  not  follow,  but  will  flee  from  him;  for  they  know  not  the 
mice  of  the  strangers.  The  shepherd  told  me  that  many  of  his  sheep  are  still 
wild  ;  that  they  had  not  yet  learned  their  names ;  but  that  by  teaching  they 
would  all  learn  them.  The  others,  which  knew  their  names,  he  called  tame." — 
Researches  in  Greece  and  the  Levant,  by  the  Rev.  John  Hartley,  p.  321. 

The  city  of  Sybaris  stood  between  two  rivers,  the  Sybaris 
and  the  Crathis.  The  ancients  asserted  that  the  sheep  which 
drank  of  the  Crathis,  were  white,  and  those  which  drank  of  the 


270 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


Sybaris,  black.  They  attributed  similar  virtues  to  other 
streams  in  various  parts  of  the  world*. 

According  to  Strabo  (L.  vi.  cap.  3.  §  9.  p.  303.  ed  Siebenkees) 
the  hilly  promontory  of  Garganus  was  particularly  celebrated 
for  its  sheep.  He  says,  that  their  wool  was  softer  than  the 
Tarentine;  but  less  shining. 

The  Roman  poets  allude  in  various  instances  to  the  excel- 
lence of  the  Apulian  wool,  and  especially  to  that  of  Tarentum. 
Horace  in  the  following  stanza  expresses  his  predeliction  for  this 
celebrated  city,  and  mentions  its  "soft"  or  "covered"  sheep. 
He  had  been  asserting  his  wish  to  end  his  days  at  Tibur,  the 
modern  Tivoli. 

But,  should  the  partial  Fates  refuse 

That  purer  air  to  let  me  breathe, 
Galesus,  thy  sweet  stream  I'll  choose, 

Where  flocks  of  richest  fleeces  bathe : 
Phalanthus  there  his  rural  sceptre  sway'd, 
Uncertain  offspring  of  a  Spartan  maid. 

Od.  I.  ii.  6. — Francis's  Translation. 

Martial  alludes  to  the  celebrity  of  the  Tarentine  wool  in  no 
less  than  five  of  his  epigrams. 

Spartan  Galesus  did  your  toga  lave, 
Or  from  a  flock  select  fair  Parma  gave. 

L.  ii.  ep.  43.  I.  3,  4. 

The  poet  intended  here  to  describe  a  toga  of  the  most  ex- 
pensive and  fashionable  kind. 

You  give,  O  Chloe,  to  Lupercus, 
Your  tender  favorite,  lacernas 
Of  Spanish,  Tyrian,  scarlet  fleeces, 
And  togas  wash'd  in  warm  Galesus. 

L.  iv.  ep.  28.  Z.  1-3. 

Thou  wast  more  sweet,  O  lovely  child  ! 

Than  song  of  aged  dying  swans : 
Thy  voice,  thy  mien  were  soft  and  mild 

As  Phalantine  Galesus'  lambs. 

L.  v.  ep.  37.  I.  1,  2. 

The  last  lines  were  written  by  Martial  on  the  death  of  Ero 

*  JElian,  Nat.  Anim.  xii.  36.  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  xxxi.  9.  Kruse's  Hellas,  i.  p. 
369.    (See  Appendix  A.) 


« 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  271 

tion  in  her  sixth  year.  He  describes  her  interesting  qualities 
by  comparing  her  to  a  lamb  of  the  soft  Tarentine  breed,  always 
clothed  and  usually  kept  in  the  house  and  hence  remarkably 
tender  and  delicate. 

The  following  epigram  (L.  viii.  ep.  28.)  was  written  on  the 
receipt  of  a  handsome  toga  from  the  wealthy  and  munificent 
Parthenius,  chamberlain  to  the  emperor  Domitian.  In  express- 
ing his  admiration  of  it,  the  poet  enumerates  the  places  from 
which  the  Romans  of  his  time  obtained  the  best  and  most 
fashionable  garments  of  this  description.  He  next  proceeds  to 
extol  its  whiteness  ;  and  in  conclusion  observes  how  ridiculous 
he  would  appear  wearing  his  old  lacerna  over  this  new  and 
snowy  garment,  and  he  thus  conveys  a  hint  to  Parthenius  how 
acceptable  and  suitable  would  be  the  present  of  a  lacerna  in  ad- 
dition to  the  toga. 

De  Partheniana  toga. 
Die,  toga,  facundi  gratum  mihi  munus  amici, 

Esse  velis  cujus  fama,  decusque  gregis? 
Appula  Lednei  tibi  floruit  herba  Phalanthi, 

Qua  saturat  Calabris  culta  Galesus  aquis? 
An  Tartessiacus  stabuli  nutritor  Iberi 

Baetis  in  Hesperia  te  quoque  lavit  aqua  ? 
An  tua  multifidum  numeravit  lana  Timavum, 

Quern  prius  astrifero  Cyllarus  ore  bibit  ? 
Te  nee  Amyclaeo  decuit  livere  veneno  ; 

Nee  Miletus  erat  vellere  digna  tuo. 
Lilia  tu  vincis,  nee  adhuc  dilapsa  ligustra, 

Et  Tiburtino  monte  quod  albet  ebur. 

Spartanus  tibi  cedet  olor,  PhaphisBque  columbse  : 

Cedet  Erythragis  eruta  gemma  vadis. 
Sed  licet  haec  primis  nivibus  sint  semula  dona, 

Non  sunt  Parthenio  candidiora  suo. 
Non  ego  prsetulerim  Babylonica  picta  superbe 

Texta,  Semiramia  quae  variantur  acu. 
Non  Athamantaeo  potius  me  mirer  in  auro, 

iEolium  dones  si  mihi,  Phryxe,  decus. 
O  quantos  risus  pariter  spectata  movebit 

Trita  Palatina  nostra  lacerna  toga  ! 

Say,  grateful  gift  of  mine  ingenious  friend, 
What  happy  flock  shall  to  thy  fleece  pretend  ? 
For  thee  did  herb  of  famed  Phalantus  blow, 
Where  clear  Galesus  bids  his  waters  flow  ? 


272 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


Did  thy  wool  count  the  streamlets,  more  than  seven, 

Of  him,  who  slaked  the  warrior  horse  of  heaven? 

Or  did  Tartessian  Guadalquiver  lave 

Thy  matchless  woof  in  his  Hesperian  wave  ? 

Thou  didst  not  need  to  taste  Amyclae's  bane, 

And  wouldst  have  tried  Milesian  art  in  vain. 

With  thee  the  lily  and  the  privet  pale 

Compared,  and  Tibur's  whitest  ivory  fail. 

The  Spartan  swan,  the  Paphian  doves  deplore 

Their  hue,  and  pearls  on  Erythrean  shore. 

But,  though  the  boon  leave  new-fall'n  snows  behind, 

It  is  not  purer  than  the  donor's  mind. 

I  would  prefer  no  Babylonian  vest, 

Superbly  broider'd  at  a  queen's  behest ; 

Nor  better  pleased  should  I  my  limbs  behold, 

Phryxus,  in  webs  of  thine  iEolian  gold. 

But  O  !  what  laughter  will  the  contrast  crown, 

My  worn  lacerna  on  th'  imperial  gown  ! 

It  may  be  observed,  that  in  this  ingenious  epigram,  as  well 
as  in  two  of  the  preceding,  which  relate  to  togas,  Martial  sup- 
poses the  Tarentine  wool  to  be  white :  for  the  Roman  toga  was 
of  that  color  except  in  mourning,  and  one  object  of  the  last-cited 
epigram  is  to  praise  the  whiteness  of  the  particular  toga,  which  it 
describes.  The  Tarentines  therefore  must  have  produced  both 
dark-colored  and  white  fleeces. 

The  fifth  passage  of  Martial  (xii.  64.),  which  mentions  the 
sheep  of  the  Galesus,  more  directly  refers  to  those  of  Spain,  and 
will  therefore  be  quoted  under  that  head. 

Besides  the  epigrams,  now  cited,  in  which  Martial  commends 
the  wool  of  Tarentum  in  particular,  we  find  others,  in  which 
he  celebrates  that  of  Apulia  in  general.  In  Book  xiv.  Ep.  155, 
he  gives  an  account  of  the  principal  countries,  which  yielded 
white  wools,  and  informs  us  that  those  of  the  first  quality  were 
from  Apulia. 

White  Wools. 
The  first  Apulia's  ;  next  is  Parma's  boast ; 
And  the  third  fleece  Altinum  has  engrost. 

Elphinston's  Translation. 

Also  in  the  following  lines  Martial  alludes  to  the  large  and  nu- 
merous flocks  of  Apulia,  and  to  the  whiteness  of  their  wool. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  273 

Of  white  thou  hast  to  clothe  a  tribe  sufficient  stock, 
The  produce  fair  of  more  than  one  Apulian  flock. 

L.  ii.  Ep.  46.  I  5,  6. 

On  the  other  hand  the  wool  from  the  vicinity  of  Canusium 
was  no  less  esteemed  for  its  dark  colors,  whether  inclining  to 
brown  or  to  red.  These  saved  the  expense  of  dyeing.  The 
testimony  of  Pliny  to  their  value  has  been  already  produced. 
In  the  two  following  Epigrams  (I.  xiv.  127  and  129.)  Martial 
alludes  to  the  peculiar  recommendations  and  uses,  first  of  the 
brown,  and  secondly  of  the  reddish  variety. 

This  Canusine  lacerna,  it  is  true, 
Looks  muddy :  but  it  will  not  change  its  hue*. 
Rome  in  the  brown  delights,  gay  Gaul  in  red : 
This  pleases  boys,  and  whose  is  blood  to  shed. 

On  referring  to  the  passages  produced  from  Pliny,  Columella, 
and  Martial,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Romans  ascribed  a  very 
high  value  to  the  white  wool  of  Gallia  Cisalpina,  i.  e.  of  North 
Italy,  or  the  region  about  the  Po.  Parma  was  considered  sec- 
ond only  to  Apulia  for  the  whiteness  of  its  wool.  Besides  the 
two  epigrams  of  Martial  already  cited,  he  refers  to  Parma  as  a 
great  place  for  sheep-breeding  in  the  following  passage,  address- 
ed to  the  wealthy  Callistratus ; 

And  Gallic  Parma  shears  thy  num'rous  flocks. 

L.  v.  ep.  13* 

Columella  speaks  moreover  (I.  c.)  of  the  superiority  of  the 
wool  of  Mutina,  now  Modena;  and  Martial  (I  v.  ep.  105.) 
mentions  the  circumstance  of  a  fuller,  or  clothier,  in  that  city 
having  exhibited  a  show  to  the  public,  which  is  a  presumptive 
evidence  that  he  had  a  great  business  in  manufacturing  the 
produce  of  the  surrounding  country. 

Strabo  in  his  account  of  the  productions  of  Cisalpine  Gaul 
divides  the  wool  into  three  kinds ;  First,  the  soft  kind,  of  which 
the  finest  varieties  were  grown  about  Mutina  and  the  river 

*  It  appears  from  this  epigram  that,  when  shaken,  it  had  the  color  of  the  brown 
wool  of  Canusium,  a  kind  of  drab.  The  lacerna  was  a  mantle,  which  the  Ro- 
mans wore  out  of  doors  over  their  white  toga,  with  which  it  was  well  contrasted, 
whether  it  was  purple,  scarlet,  or  brown ;  but  the  last  color,  though  less  showy  at 
first,  must  have  had  the  advantage  of  durability.    See  Appendix  A. 

35 


274 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


Scutana,  which  is  the  modern  Scultenna,  a  tributary  of  the 
Po,  rising  in  the  Apennines ;  Secondly,  the  coarse  kind,  grown 
in  Liguria  and  the  country  of  the  Insubres,  which  was  very 
much  used  for  the  common  wearing  apparel  of  the  Italians ; 
and  Thirdly,  the  middle  kind,  grown  about  Patavium  (now 
Padua)  and  employed  for  making  valuable  carpets  and  various 
descriptions  of  blankets*.  By  comparing  the  statements  of 
this  author  with  those  of  Columella  and  Martial  it  will  appear, 
that  the  whole  region  watered  by  the  parallel  rivers  Parma, 
Gabellus,  and  Scultenna,  and  known  by  the  name  of  Macri 
Campi,  or  the  Barren  Plains,  was  esteemed  for  the  production 
of  the  fine  white  wool. 

That  the  tending  of  both  sheep  and  goats  was  a  principal 
occupation  of  the  people  of  Mantua  we  learn  from  Virgil,  a 
native  of  that  city,  who  places  the  scene  of  most  of  his  pasto- 
rals in  its  vicinity.  His  First  and  Ninth  Eclogues  more  particu- 
larly relate  to  the  calamities,  which  the  Mantuans  were  com- 
pelled to  sustain,  when  Augustus  seized  on  their  lands  to  re- 
ward his  veteran  soldiers  after  the  battle  of  Philippi.  These 
eclogues  mention  flocks  both  of  sheep  and  goats,  and  show  that 
those  who  had  the  care  of  them  cultivated  music  and  poetry 
after  the  manner  of  the  Sicilians.  The  commencement  of  the 
Seventh  Eclogue  is  especially  instructive,  because  it  gives  us 
reason  to  believe,  that  while  many  of  the  Arcadians  left  their 
country  in  consequence  of  that  excess  of  population,  to  which 
mountainous  regions  are  subject,  in  order  to  become  foreign 
mercenaries,  others,  on  the  contrary,  entered  into  foreign  service 
as  shepherds  and  goatherds,  and  in  this  condition  not  only 
made  themselves  useful  by  their  experience,  skill,  and  fidelity, 
but  also  introduced  at  the  same  time  their  native  music  to- 
gether with  that  refinement  of  manners  and  feelings  which  it 
promoted.  The  poet  thus  describes  two  such  individuals,  who 
had  been  employed  in  tending  flocks  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Mincius  (I.  12,  13),  and  who  were  either  born  in  Arcadia,  or 
were  at  least  of  Arcadian  origin. 

Two  blooming  swains  had  join'd  their  flocks  in  one, 
Thyrsis  his  sheep,  and  tuneful  Corydon 


*  Strabo,  L.  v.  c.  I.  §  12.  p.  119.  ed.  Siebenkees. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


275 


His  goats,  which  bore  their  treasur'd  milk  along ; 
Arcadians  both,  both  skill'd  in  amoebean  song. 

At  a  considerable  distance  to  the  North-East  of  Mantua  lay 
Altinum,  which  is  mentioned  by  Columella*,  Tertullian,  and 
Martial,  as  one  of  the  principal  places  for  the  produce  of  white 
wool.  Martial  says,  that  it  ranked  in  this  respect  next  to  Par- 
mat,  and  we  must  understand  him  as  referring  to  the  same 
region  in  Book  viii.  Epig.  28,  where  he  asks,  "  Did  thy  wool 
count  the  many  streams  of  the  Timavus,  which  Cyllarus  pre- 
viously drank  with  his  starry  mouth  ?"  The  Timavus  was 
indeed  a  considerable  way  still  further  towards  the  North-East, 
and  must  have  been  very  insignificant  in  connection  with  the 
sheep-breeding  of  the  Altinates.  The  poet  introduces  it  here 
only  on  account  of  its  picturesque  and  mythological  interest, 
just  as  we  have  seen  that  the  Gales  us,  a  small,  though  clear  and 
very  beautiful  stream,  is  repeatedly  named  in  order  to  designate 
the  pastoral  region  about  Tarentum.  It  may  also  be  observed, 
that  in  this  epigram,  where  Martial  alludes  to  three  of  the  prin- 
cipal places  for  the  growth  of  white  wool,  he  indicates  each  of 
them  by  its  river,  the  three  rivers  being  the  Galesus,  the  Bsetis, 
and  the  Timavus ;  and  he  probably  did  so  on  account  of  the  sup- 
posed effect  of  the  waters  of  these  rivers  in  improving  the  wool. 

We  can  make  no  question,  after  what  we  have  seen  of  the 
universal  practice  of  both  ancient  and  modern  times,  that  the 
sheep,  which  in  the  winter  were  pastured  in  the  plains  and 
lower  grounds  about  Altinum,  were  taken  to  pass  the  summer 
in  the  vallies  of  the  Carinthian  Alps  about  the  sources  of  the 
Brenta,  the  Piave,  and  the  Tagliamento.  We  may  also  trace 
the  wool,  after  it  was  manufactured,  in  its  progress  towards 
Rome,  where  was  the  chief  demand  for  garments  of  this  de- 
scription. For  Strabo  says,  that  Patavium  (Padua),  which 
was  situated  at  no  great  distance  from  Altinum  on  the  way  to 
Rome,  was  a  great  and  flourishing  mart  for  all  kinds  of  mer- 
chandize intended  to  be  sent  thither,  and  especially  for  every 
kind  of  cloth}:.    It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  wool-growers 


*  L.  vii.  cap.  2.  t  L.  xiv.  Ep.  155. 

f  L.  v.  cap.  1.  §  6,  7.  Strabo  alludes  to  the  pastoral  occupations  of  the  territory 
about  Altinum  and  the  Timavus. 


276 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


and  clothiers  of  the  country  to  the  North-East  of  Padua,  the 
modern  Trevisano,  employed  that  city  as  an  entrepot  where 
they  disposed  of  their  goods  to  the  Roman  dealers.  At  the 
same  time  we  learn,  that  this  place  served  as  a  market  for  car- 
pets and  blankets  made  of  a  stronger  and  more  substantial 
material,  which,  according  to  the  same  authority*,  was  produced 
in  its  more  immediate  vicinity. 

In  the  North- Western  portion  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  the  wool 
was  generally  coarse,  and  according  to  Strabo  (I.  c.)  the  gar- 
ments made  of  it  were  used  by  the  Italians  for  the  ordinary 
clothing  of  their  domestic  establishments.  Nevertheless,  black 
wool  of  superior  value  was  grown  at  Polentia,  now  Polenza,  on 
the  Stura,  which  is  a  tributary  of  the  Pot.  The  following  two 
Epigrams  of  Martial  (Z.  xiv.  157  and  158.)  allude  to  the  use  of 
the  dark  wool  of  Polentia  for  mourning  and  for  the  dress  of  in- 
ferior domestic  servants. 

Polentine  Wools. 
1.  Not  wools  alone,  that  wear  the  face  of  woe  ; 

Her  goblets  once  did  proud  Polentia  show. 
2.  Our  sable  hue  to  croplings  may  belong, 
That  tend  the  table,  not  of  primal  throng. 

Elphinston's  Translation. 

The  country  people  about  Modena  and  in  other  parts  of  the 
Northern  Apennines  still  wear  undyed  woollen  cloth  of  a  gray 
color.  Muratori  quotes  from  the  statutes  of  the  city  of  Modena, 
A.  D.  1327,  a  law  to  prevent  the  makers  of  such  cloth  from 
mixing  with  their  gray  wool  the  hair  of  oxen,  asses,  or  other 
animalsi. 

Before  quitting  Italy  we  may  properly  inquire,  whence  and 
how  came  the  practice  of  sheep-breeding  into  Great  Britain 
It  has  already  been  observed  that  the  very  improved  state  of 
the  art  at  Tarentum  may  be  in  part  ascribed  to  the  intercourse 


*  Strabo. 

t  Pliny,  L.  viii.  Columella,  vii.  2.  To  these  testimonies  may  be  added  Silius 
Italicus  de  Bello  Punico,  1.  viii.  597. 

X  Dissertazioni  sopra  le  Antichita  Italiane,  Diss.  30.  tomo  ii.  48,  49,  4to  edition. 
This  author  in  his  21st  Dissertation  endeavors  to  assign  reasons  for  the  decline 
of  the  modern  Italians  in  the  growth  and  manufacture  of  wool. 


PASTORAL  LIFE   OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


277 


of  its  inhabitants  with  the  Milesians.  The  reader  will  have 
noticed  the  fact  that  the  worship  of  Pan  was  introduced  into 
Italy  from  Arcadia  by  Evander,  from  which  circumstance  it 
may  be  reasonably  inferred,  that  improvements  in  the  manage- 
ment of  sheep  were  also  introduced  at  the  same  time.  Accord- 
ing to  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  Evander  with  his  compan- 
ions was  said  by  the  Romans  to  have  migrated  to  Latium  about 
sixty  years  before  the  Trojan  tvar*.  The  same  historian  al- 
leges that  this  colony  taught  in  Italy  the  use  of  letters,  of  in- 
strumental music  and  other  arts,  established  laws,  and  brought 
some  degree  of  refinement  instead  of  the  former  savage  mode 
of  life.  The  story  of  the  birth  of  Romulus  and  Remus  sup- 
poses sheep-breeding  to  have  been  practiced  at  the  period  of  that 
event,  and  in  a  state  of  society  similar  to  that  which  we  have 
found  prevailing  further  eastward ;  for  it  is  stated,  that  Faus- 
tulus,  who  discovered  them,  kept  the  king's  flocks.  He  was 
"  magister  regii  pecorisf 

According  to  Pausanias  {I.  viii.  c.  3.  §  2.)  the  first  Greek  col- 
ony, which  went  into  Italy,  was  from  Arcadia,  being  conducted 
thither  by  CEnotrus,  an  Arcadian  princet  This  was  several 
centuries  before  the  expedition  under  Evander,  and  the  part  of 
Italy  thus  colonized  was  the  southern  extremity,  afterwards  oc- 
cupied by  the  Bruttii§.  If  with  Niebuhr  we  regard  this  tradi- 
tion only  in  the  light  of  a  genealogical  table,  designed  to  indicate 
the  affinities  of  tribes  and  nations,  still  the  simple  fact  of  the 
colonization  of  South  Italy  by  Arcadians  certainly  authorizes 
the  conjecture,  that  Arcadia  was  one  of  the  stepping-stones,  by 
which  the  art  of  sheep-breeding  was  transported  from  Asia  into 
Europe. 

*  Hist.  Rom.  I.  i.  p.  20,  81:  ed.  R.  Stephani,  Par.  1546.  folio. 

As  it  has  been  a  frequent  error  with  nations  to  push  back  their  annals  into  a 
higher  antiquity  than  was  consistent  with  fact,  this  may  have  been  the  case  in 
the  present  instance.  For  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  according  to  Herodotus  the 
worship  of  Pan  did  not  arise  in  Arcadia  until  after  the  time  when  according  to 
this  latter  statement  it  was  introduced  from  Arcadia  into  Latium. 

t  Livii  1.  i.  c.  4. 

X  As  further  evidence  for  this  tradition  see  Pherecydis  Fragmenta,  a  Sturtz,  p. 
190.  Virg.  JEn.  i.  53-2,  and  iii.  165.  Compare  Heyne,  Excursus  vi.  ad  JEn.  L  iii. 
§  Heyne,  Excursus  xxi.  ad  iEn.  1.  i.    Niebuhr,  Rom.  Geschichte,  i.  p.  57.« 


278 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


The  reader  will  have  perceived  from  the  observations  already 
made  on  the  worship  of  Faunus  in  Italy,  that  the  Roman  Fau- 
nas was  the  same  with  the  Arcadian  Pan.  It  seems  no  suffi- 
cient objection  to  this  hypothesis,  that  a  few  Roman  authors 
have  supposed  Faunus  to  be  either  the  son  of  Mars*,  or  of  Picus 
and  the  grandson  of  Saturn,  thus  connecting  him  with  their 
native  mythology,  or  that  his  oracle  was  held  by  them  in  high 
reputet.  It  is  here  sufficient  to  remark,  that  we  find  him  ex- 
tensively recognized  in  Italy  as  a  pastoral  divinity. 

Stretch'd  on  the  springing  grass,  the  shepherd  swain 

His  reedy  pipe  with  rural  music  fills ; 
The  god,  who  guards  his  flock,  approves  the  strain, 

The  god,  who  loves  Arcadia's  gloomy  hills. 

Horat.  Carm.  iv.  12.  9-12. — Francis's  Translation. 

The  above  stanza  occurs  in  a  description  of  the  beauties  of 
spring,  and  the  poet  no  doubt  alludes  to  the  pastoral  habits  of 
his  Sabine  neighbors. 

From  ancient  monuments  as  well  as  from  the  language  of 
the  poets  we  find,  that  the  worship  of  other  divinities  was  asso- 
ciated with  that  of  Faunus  in  reference  to  the  success  of  all 
agricultural  pursuits  including  that  of  sheep-breeding.  Bois- 
sard,  in  the  Fourth  Part  of  his  Antiquitates  Romanee,  has  pub- 
lished somewhat  rude  engravings  of  the  bas-reliefs  upon  two 
altars,  one  of  them  (No.  130)  dedicated  to  Hope,  the  other  (No. 
134)  to  Silvanus.  The  altar  to  Hope  was  erected,  as  the  in- 
scription expresses,  in  a  garden  at  Rome  by  M.  Aur.  Pacorus, 
keeper  of  the  temple  of  Venus.  He  says,  that  he  had  been  ad- 
monished to  this  deed  of  piety  by  a  dream  ;  and,  if  the  repre- 
sentation in  the  bas-relief  was  the  image  thus  presented  to  his 
mind,  his  dream  was  certainly  a  very  pleasant  one.  Hope, 
wearing  on  her  head  a  wreath  of  flowers,  places  her  right  hand 
upon  a  pillar  and  holds  in  her  left  poppy-heads  and  ears  of  corn. 
Beside  her  is  a  bee-hive  on  the  ground,  and  on  it  there  is  also 
fixed  a  bunch  of  poppy-heads  and  ears  of  corn.  Above  these 
emblems  of  the  fruitfulness  of  the  field  and  of  the  garden  is  the 
figure  of  a  bale  of  wool. 

*  Appian  apud  Photium. 

t  Virgil,  JEn.  vii.  48,  81-105,  and  Heyne,  Eecursus  v.  ad  loc. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OP  THE  ANCIENTS. 


279 


The  altar  to  Silvanus  exhibits  that  divinity  crowned  with 
the  cones  and  foliage  of  the  pine.  A  pine  grows  moreover  be- 
side his  terminal  statue,  bearing  the  large  cones,  which  were 
used  for  food  at  entertainments  and  carried  in  bacchanalian 
processions.  Faunus,  or  Pan,  sits  at  the  foot  of  the  pine,  the 
syrinx  and  the  double  pipe  being  placed  at  his  feet.  In  his 
right  hand  he  holds  an  olive  branch,  while  a  young  winged 
genius  advances  towards  him  as  if  to  receive  it,  and  another 
genius  of  the  same  kind  appears  to  be  caressing  him  and  whis- 
pering into  his  ear.  On  the  other  side  of  the  terminal  statue 
of  Silvanus  wTe  see  the  caduceus  of  Mercury  and  the  bale  of 
wool,  manifest  indications  of  success  in  the  wool  trade.  In  this 
sculpture  the  bale  is  surrounded  with  cords,  which  are  twisted 
round  one  another  where  they  cross.  In  the  former  instance 
the  compression  of  the  wool  appears  to  be  effected  by  the  use 
of  thongs  instead  of  cords*.  There  is  also  introduced  the  figure 
of  a  shepherd  of  the  same  country.  This  statue  was  found  in 
the  vicinity  of  Rome  and  is  now  preserved  in  the  Vaticant. 
The  extremities  are  in  part  restorations.  A  cameo  in  the  Flor- 
entine Museum!  represents  the  shepherd  Faustulus  sitting 
upon  a  rock,  and  contemplating  the  she-wolf,  which  is  suckling 
Romulus  and  Remus.  It  is  of  the  Augustan  age,  and  no  doubt 
exhibits  the  costume  and  general  appearance  of  a  Roman  shep- 
herd of  that  period.  He  wears  a  tunica  cucullata,  i.  e.  a  tunic 
of  coarse  woollen  cloth  with  a  cowl,  which  was  designed  to  be 
drawn  occasionally  over  the  head  and  to  protect  it  from  the  in- 
juries of  the  weather.  This  garment  has  also  sleeves,  which 
Columella  mentions  (tunica  manicata)  as  an  additional  com- 
fort. On  his  feet  the  shepherd  wears  high  shoes,  or  boots, 
which,  as  we  may  suppose,  were  made  of  leather. 

The  appearance  of  the  shepherds,  who  are  represented  in 
these  ancient  works  of  art,  is,  doubtless,  adapted  to  produce  the 


*  The  bas-relief  on  the  first  altar  is  copied  from  Boissard  by  Montfaucon,  Ant. 
Expliquee,  tome  i.  p.  332.  and  that  on  the  second,  tome  ii.  p.  275.  The  latter  is 
also  represented  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Moses,  Collection  of  Antique  Vases,  &c. 
Plate  52. 

t  Museo  Pio-Clementino,  tomo  iii.  tav.  34  and  p.  44. 

%  Museum  Florentinum.    Gemmae  Antiquae  a  Gorio  illustratse,  tav.  ii.  No.  10. 


280 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


impression,  that  their  condition,  even  if  it  were  that  of  slaves, 
was  nevertheless  one  of  comfort  and  respectability.  Neither 
their  garb,  nor  their  attitude,  suggests  the  idea  of  anything 
base  or  miserable.  On  the  contrary,  the  countenance  of  each 
indicates  trust-worthiness,  steadiness,  and  care.  That  many 
of  the  agricultural  laborers  of  ancient  Italy  had  this  character 
may  be  inferred  also  from  written  testimonies. 

In  reference  to  this  subject,  and  with  a  view  to  illustrate  at 
the  same  time  the  habits  and  employments  of  the  ancient 
farmer  among  the  Sabine  or  Apulian  mountains,  we  will  here 
quote  some  parts  of  Horace's  Second  Epode,  in  which  he  de- 
scribes the  pleasures  of  a  country  life. 

Like  the  first  mortals  blest  is  he, 
From  debts,  and  usury,  and  bus'ness  free, 
With  his  own  team  who  ploughs  the  soil, 
Which  grateful  once  confess'd  his  father's  toil. 

The  sounds  of  war  nor  break  his  sleep, 

Nor  the  rough  storm,  that  harrows  up  the  deep ; 

lie  shuns  the  courtier's  haughty  doors, 

And  the  loud  science  of  the  bar  abjures. 

Either  to  poplars  tall  he  joins 
The  marriageable  offspring  of  his  vines  ; 
Or  lops  the  useless  boughs  away, 
Inserting  happier  as  the  old  decay : 

Or  in  a  lonely  vale  surveys 
His  lowing  herds,  safe-wand'ring  as  they  graze  ; 
Or  stores  in  jars  his  liquid  gold 
Prest  from  the  hive,  or  shears  his  tender  fold. 
#  #  #  # 

And,  if  a  chaste  and  prudent  wife 
Perform  her  part  in  the  sweet  cares  of  life, 
Of  sun-burnt  charms,  but  honest  fame, 
Such  as  the  Sabine  or  Apulian  dame ; 

If,  when  fatigued  he  homeward  turns, 

The  sacred  fire,  built  up  with  faggots,  burns  ; 

Or  if  in  hurdles  she  inclose 

The  joyful  flock,  whence  ample  produce  flows ; 

Though  unbought  dainties  she  prepare, 
And  this  year's  wines  attend  the  homely  fare ; 
No  fish  would  I  from  foreign  shore 
Desire,  nor  relish  Lucrine  oysters  more. 


Mallows,  the  frame  from  heaviness  to  free*; 
A  kid  snatch'd  from  the  wolf,  a  lamb 
To  Terminus  with  due  devotion  slain ; 

Such  is  the  meal,  his  labor  o'er ; 

No  bird  from  distant  climes  I'd  relish  more. 

Meanwhile  how  pleasant  to  behold 

His  sheep  well  fed,  and  hasting  to  their  fold ; 

To  see  his  wearied  oxen  bow 

Their  languid  necks,  and  drag  th'  inverted  plough  ; 
And  then  his  num'rous  slaves  to  view 
Round  his  domestic  gods  their  mirth  pursue. 


*  See  chap.  xii.  p.  191. 

36 


CHAPTER  III. 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND  PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  AN- 
CIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  &c. 

Sheep-breeding  in  Germany  and  Gaul — In  Britain — Improved  by  the  Belgians 
and  Saxons — Sheep-breeding  in  Spain — Natural  dyes  of  Spanish  wool — Golden 
hue  and  other  natural  dyes  of  the  wool  of  Baetica — Native  colors  of  Baetic 
wool — Saga  and  chequered  plaids — Sheep  always  bred  principally  for  the 
weaver,  not  for  the  butcher — Sheep  supplied  milk  for  food,  wool  for  clothing — 
The  moth. 

According  to  Tacitus*  the  ancient  Germans  had  abundance 
of  cattle,  although  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  had 
acquired  any  of  that  skill  in  sheep-breeding,  by  which  their 
successors  in  Silesia  and  Saxony  are  now  distinguished.  On 
the  contrary,  we  are  informed  by  the  same  author  that  the 
only  woollen  garment,  which  they  commonly  wore,  was  the 
Sagurri)  a  term  implying  the  coarseness  of  the  materialt. 

We  find  almost  as  little  in  any  ancient  author  in  favor  of  the 
wool  of  Gallia  Transalpina,  the  modern  France.  Pliny  men- 
tions a  coarse  kind,  more  like  hair  than  wool,  which  was  pro- 
duced in  the  neighborhood  of  Pezenas  in  Provencet.  Martial's 
account  of  the  Endromis  Sequanica,  coarse,  but  useful  to  keep 
off  the  cold  and  wet,  bears  upon  the  same  point ; 

The  frousy  foster  of  a  female  hand ; 
Of  name  Laconian,  from  a  barb'rous  land  ; 
Though  rude,  yet  welcome  to  December's  snow, 
To  thee  we  bid  the  homely  stranger  go : 

That  into  glowing  limbs  no  cold  may  glide, 
That  baleful  Iris  never  drench  thy  pride : 


*  Terra  pecorum  fecunda,  sed  plerumque  improcera. — Germania,  v.  2. 

t  Nudi,  aut  sagulo  leves. — Germania,  vi.  3.   Tegumen  omnibus  sagum.  xvii.  1 

X  See  Appendix  A. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


283 


This  fence  shall  bid  thee  scorn  the  winds  and  showers ; 
The  Tyrian  lawn  pretends  no  equal  powers. 

Elphinston's  Translation. 

In  the  following  epigram  of  Martial  (vi.  11.),  addressed  to  his 
friend  Marcus,  we  observe  a  similar  opposition  between  the  fine 
and  fashionable  cloth  of  Tyre,  and  the  thick  coarse  "  sagum" 
produced  in  Gaul. 

Proud  Tyrian  thine,  gross  Gaulish  mine  array : 
In  purple  thee  can  e'er  I  love  in  gray  ? 

Juvenal  gives  exactly  the  same  account  of  the  woollen  man- 
ufactures of  Gaul.  In  the  following  passage  the  needy  depend- 
ant of  a  rich  man  is  speaking  of  the  lacernas  from  that  coun- 
try, which  were  sometimes  presented  to  him  by  his  patron. 

Some  coarse  brown  cloaks  perhaps  I  chance  to  get, 
Of  Gallic  fabric,  as  a  fence  from  wet. 

Satir.  ix.  v.  30. — Owen's  Translation. 

To  the  same  effect  are  several  passages  in  the  Epistles  of 
Sidonius  Apollinaris,  who  was  Bishop  of  Clermont  in  Auvergne 
in  the  fifth  century.  He  mentions,  for  example,  that  the  at- 
tendants on  Prince  Sigismer  at  his  marriage  wore  green  Saga 
with  red  borders,  and  he  describes  a  friend  of  his  own  as  wear- 
ing the  Endromis*.  Also  in  an  account  of  his  own  villa  he 
speaks  of  the  pipe  with  seven  holes,  as  the  instrument  of  the 
shepherds  and  herdsmen,  who  used  to  entertain  themselves  du- 
ring the  night  with  musical  contests,  while  their  cattle  were 
grazing  with  bells  upon  their  necks. 

All  these  passages  are  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Strabo.  According  to  him  Gaul  produced  cattle  of  all 
kindsf.  The  Belgee,  who  occupied  the  most  northern  part,  op- 
posite to  Britain,  excelled  the  rest  of  the  Gauls  in  their  manu- 
factures. Nevertheless  their  wool  was  coarse,  and  was  spun 
and  woven  by  them  into  the  thick  Saga,  which  were  both  worn 
by  the  natives  of  the  country  and  exported  in  great  quantities 
to  Rome  and  other  parts  of  Italy.    The  Roman  settlers,  indeed, 

*  Viridantia  saga  limbis  marginata  puniceis.  L.  iv.  Ep.  20.  Tu  endromida- 
tus  exterius.    L.  iv.  Ep.  2. 

t  L.  iv.  cap.  i.  §  2.  p.  6.  ed.  Siebenkees. 


284 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


in  the  most  northern  parts  had  flocks  of  covered  sheep,  and  their 
wool  was  consequently  very  fine*. 

Here  also  may  be  produced  the  evidence  of  Eumenius,  who  in 
his  Oration,  which  will  be  quoted  more  fully  hereafter,  intimates 
the  abundance  of  the  sheep  on  the  western  banks  of  the  Rhine 
by  saying,  that  the  flocks  of  the  Romans  were  washed  in  every 
part  of  the  streamf. 

Caesar  informs  us,  that  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Britain  had 
abundance  of  cattle  (pecoris  magnus  numerus) ;  under  the 
word  (pecus)  "  cattle,"  sheep  must  no  doubt  be  understood  to 
be  included.  It  also  appears,  that  in  his  time  the  Celts,  or 
proper  Britons,  lived  to  the  North  of  the  Thames,  the  Belgians 
having  expelled  them  and  taken  possession  of  the  part  to  the 
South,  called  Cantium  or  Kent  These  last  were  by  far  the 
most  civilized  inhabitants  of  the  island,  not  much  differing  in 
their  customs  from  the  Gauls.  With  respect  to  the  others, 
Caesar  says,  that  for  the  most  part  they  did  not  sow  any  kind 
of  grain,  but  lived  upon  milk  and  flesh,  and  clothed  themselves 
with  skins*. 

It  appears  therefore,  that  before  our  aera,  sheep,  and  probably 
goats,  were  bred  extensively  in  England,  their  milk  and  flesh 
being  used  for  food,  and  their  skins  with  the  wool  or  hair  upon 
them  for  clothing  ;  and  that  the  people  of  Kent,  who  were  of 
Belgic  origin,  and  more  refined  than  the  original  Britons,  had 
attained  to  the  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving,  although  their 
productions  were  only  of  the  coarsest  description. 

Eumenius,  the  Rhetorician,  who  was  a  native  of  Augustodu- 
num,  now  called  Autan,  delivered  his  Panegyric  in  praise  of 
the  Emperors  Constantius  and  Constantine  in  the  city  of 
Treves  about  A.  D.  310.  In  the  following  passage  he  con- 
gratulates Britain  on  its  various  productions,  and  also  on  the 


*  L.  iv.  cap.  iv.  §  3.  pp.  56-59.  ed.  Siebenkees. 

t  Arat  illam  terribilem  aliquando  ripam  inermis  agricola,  et  toto  nostri  greges 
flumine  bicorni  mersantur.  p.  152. 

J  Ex  his  omnibus  longe  sunt  humanissimi,  qui  Cantium  incolunt ;  quae  regio 
est  maritima  omnis  ;  neque  multum  a  Gallic^  differunt  consuetudine.  Interiores 
plerique  frumenta  non  serunt ;  sed  lacte  et  came  vivunt,  pellibusqe  sunt  vestiti. 
De  Bello  Gallico,  1.  v.  cap.  10. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


285 


circumstance,  that  Constantine  had  been  recently  declared  Em- 
peror at  York  on  the  death  of  his  father : 

O  fortunate  Britain,  now  the  happiest  country  upon  earth ;  for  thou  hast  been 
the  first  to  see  Constantine  made  Emperor.  It  was  fit  that  on  thee  Nature  should 
bestow  every  blessing  of  climate  and  of  soil.  Suffering  neither  from  the  excessive 
severity  of  winter,  nor  the  heat  of  summer,  thy  harvests  are  so  fruitful  as  to  sup- 
ply all  the  gifts  both  of  Ceres  and  of  Bacchus  ;  thy  woods  contain  no  savage 
beasts,  thy  land  no  noxious  serpents,  but  an  innumerable  multitude  of  tame  cattle, 
distended  with  milk,  and  loaded  with  fleeces*. 

The  improvements  in  sheep-breeding  which  were  first  intro- 
duced into  England  by  the  Belgians,  appear  to  have  been  ad- 
vanced still  further  by  the  Saxons. 

The  only  country,  which  now  remains  to  be  surveyed  in  re- 
lation to  the  production  of  sheep's  wool,  is  Spain  ;  and,  as  this 
kingdom  retains  its  pre-eminence  at  the  present  dayt,  so  we 
find  none,  in  which  sheep-breeding  was  carried  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent in  ancient  times. 

Of  all  the  countries  in  Europe,  says  Mr.  Low,  Spain  has 
been  the  longest  distinguished  for  the  excellence  of  its  wool. 
This  fine  country,  more  varied  in  its  surface  and  natural  pro- 
ductions than  any  other  region  of  the  like  extent  in  Europe, 
produces  a  great  variety  of  breeds  of  sheep,  from  the  larger  ani- 
mals of  the  richer  plains,  to  the  smaller  races  of  the  higher  moun- 
tains and  arid  country.  Besides  the  difference  produced  in  the 
sheep  of  Spain  by  varieties  of  climate  and  natural  productions ; 
the  diversity  of  character  in  the  animals  may  be  supposed  to 
have  been  increased  by  the  different  races  introduced  into  it : — 
first,  from  Asia,  by  the  early  Phoenician  colonies ;  secondly 
from  Africa  by  the  Carthaginians,  during  their  brief  possession 4 
thirdly,  from  Italy  by  the  Romans,  during  their  dominion  of 
six  hundred  years ;  and  fourthly,  again  from  Africa,  by  the 
Moors,  who  maintained  a  footing  in  the  country  for  nearly  eight 
centuries.    The  large  sheep  of  the  plains  have  long  wool,  ofte» 


*  Panegyrici  Veteres,  ed.  Cellarii,  Halae  Magd.  1703.  pp.  147,  148. 

t  For  accounts  of  the  state  of  sheep-breeding  in  modern  Spain,  including  the 
annual  migration  of  the  flocks,  which  is  conducted  there  as  in  Italy,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  "  Travels  through  Portugal  and  Spain  in  1772,  1773,  by  R.  Twiss,'* 
pp.  72-82 ;  and  to  De  la  Borde's  View  of  Spain,  vol.  iv.  pp.  45-61,  English 
Translation.    London,  1809. 


286 


SHEEP   BREEDING  AND 


colored  brown  or  black.  The  sheep  of  the  mountains,  downs, 
and  arid  plains  have  short  wool,  of  different  degrees  of  fineness, 
and  different  colors.  The  most  important  of  these  latter  breeds 
is  the  merino,  now  the  most  esteemed  and  widely  diffused  of  all 
the  fine-wooled  breeds  of  Europe. 

Pliny  not  only  refers  in  general  terms  to  the  various  natural 
colors  of  the  Spanish  wool,  but  mentions  more  particularly  the 
red  wool  produced  in  the  district  adjoining  the  river  Beetis,  or 
Guadalquiver*. 

Among  the  natural  colors  of  the  Bsetic  wool,  Columella,  a 
native  of  Cadiz,  (vii.  2.)  mentions,  as  has  been  already  stated, 
gray  and  brown.  The  latter  is  what  we  call  drab,  and  the 
Spaniards  fusco.  It  is  now  commonly  worn  by  the  shepherds 
and  peasants  of  Spain,  the  wool  being  made  into  clothes  with- 
out dyeing. 

Nonius  Marcellus  (cap.  16.  n.  13),  explaining  the  word  pal- 
lus,  which  was  called  a  native  color,  because  it  was  the  natural 
color  of  the  fleece,  also  shows,  that  this  was  a  common  quality 
of  the  Spanish  wool.    Another  testimony  is  that  of  Tertullian. 

The  sheep  of  Tarentum  were  imported  into  this  part  of 
Spain,  and  there  also  their  fleeces  were  protected  by  clothing. 
Columella  (L.  vii.  2.)  gives  a  very  interesting  account  of  the 
experiments  made  by  his  uncle,  a  great  agriculturalist  of  Bsetica, 
in  crossing  his  Tarentine  breed  with  some  wild  rams  of  an  ex- 
traordinary color,  which  had  been  brought  from  Africa  to  Cadiz. 
(See  latter  part  of  next  chapter.) 

We  have  a  further  evidence  of  the  pains  taken  to  improve 
the  Spanish  breed  in  the  circumstance,  that  Italian  shepherds 
passed  into  Spain,  just  as  we  have  formerly  seen,  that  they  mi- 
grated into  Italy  from  Arcadia.  In  the  following  lines  of  Cal- 
purnius  (Eel.  iv.  37-49.),  Corydon,  a  young  shepherd,  tells  his 
friend  and  patron,  Meliboeus,  that  he  should  have  been  trans- 
ported into  Baetica,  had  not  the  times  improved,  and  his  mas- 
ter's favor  enabled  him  to  remain  in  Italy. 

Through  thee  I  rest  secure  beneath  the  shade, 
Such  plenty  hath  thy  generous  bounty  made, 


*  See  Appendix  A. 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


287 


But  for  thy  favor,  Meliboeus,  sent 

Where  Beetis'  waves  the  western  plains  indent, 

Plains  at  the  earth's  extremest  verge,  expos'd 

To  the  fierce  Moors,  which  Geryon  once  inclos'd. 

There  had  I  now  been  doom'd  to  tend  for  hire 

Iberian  flocks,  or  else  of  want  expire : 

In  vain  I  might  have  tun'd  my  seven-fold  reed : 

Mid  thickets  vast  no  soul  my  strains  would  heed  : 

Not  even  Pan  on  that  far-distant  shore 

Would  lend  his  vacant  ear,  or  be  my  solace  more. 

Juvenal  in  his  Twelfth  Satire  (I.  37-42.)  describes  a  mer- 
chant overtaken  by  a  dreadful  storm,  and  to  save  the  ship 
throwing  his  most  valuable  goods  into  the  sea.  It  will  be  ob- 
served, that  the  poet  attributes  the  excellence  and  fine  natural 
color  of  the  woollen  cloth  of  Baetica  to  three  causes,  the  rich 
herbage,  the  occult  properties  of  the  water,  and  those  of  the  air. 

"  Over  with  mine,"  he  cries  ;  "  be  nothing  spar'd 
To  part  with  all  his  richest  goods  prepar'd ; 
His  vests  of  Tyrian  purple,  fit  to  please 
The  softest  of  the  silken  sons  of  ease, 
And  other  robes,  which  took  a  native  stain 
From  air  and  water  on  the  Baetic  plain. 

Owen's  Translation. 

Strabo  (iii.  144.  p.  385.  ed.  Sieb.)  gives  the  following  account 
of  the  wool  of  Turdetania. 

IIoAXf)  Se  Kai  laOrjg  nporepov  \\pyzro'  vvv  Kai  epia  paWov  toov  "Kvpafav,  Kai  V7rep/3o\fi 
rig  cot!  tov  K&Wovg'  raXavriaiovg  yovv  (hvovvrai  rovg  Kpiovg  eig  rag  d^eiag,  VTrep(So\ri  6e  Kai 
T(ov  \sTrrcov  v<pacrnaTO)v}  anep  ol  TiaXrifjTai  KaracrKevd^ovaiv. 

"  Much  cloth  used  formerly  to  come  from  this  country.  Now  also  fleeces  come 
from  it  more  than  from  the  Coraxi ;  and  they  are  exceedingly  beautiful,  so  that 
rams  for  breeding  are  sold  for  a  talent  each.  Also  the  fine  webs  are  very  famous, 
which  are  made  by  the  Saltiatse." — Yates's  Translation. 

The  reader  will  please  to  remark,  that  this  is  the  passage  of 
Strabo,  formerly  referred  to  as  containing  evidence  respecting 
the  Coraxi. 

Martial,  a  Spaniard  by  birth,  frequently  alludes  to  the  sheep 
of  Bsetica  and  especially  to  the  various  natural  colors  of  their 
wool,  which  were  so  much  admired,  that  it  was  manufactured 
without  dyeing.    Two  of  his  epigrams  (iv.  28.  and  viii.  28.) 


288 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


have  been  already  quoted,  as  they  refer  also  to  the  sheep  of 
Tarentum  :  to  these  the  seven  following  may  be  added. 

In  the  Tartessian  lands  a  house  appears, 
Where  Cordova  o'er  placid  Baetis  rears 
Her  wealthy  domes  ;  and  where  the  fleeces  show 
Metallic  tints,  like  living  gold  that  glow. 

ix.  62. 

Corduba,  more  joyous  far 

Than  Venafrum's  unctuous  boast ; 
Nor  inferior  to  the  jar, 

That  renowns  glad  Istria's  coast : 
Who  surmount'st  the  fleecy  breed, 
That  the  bright  Galesus  laves ; 
Nor  bidd'st  lying  purple  bleed 
O'er  the  hue,  that  nature  craves. 

xii.  63. — Elphinston's  Translation, 
Baetis,  with  wreaths  of  unctuous  olive  crown'd, 
For  Bacchus'  and  for  Pallas'  gifts  renown'd  ; 
Whose  waters  clear  a  golden  hue  impart 
To  fleeces,  that  require  no  further  art ; 
Such  wealth  the  Ruler  of  the  waves  conveys 
In  ships,  that  mark  with  foam  thy  liquid  ways. 

xii.  99. 

Lacernas  from  Baetica. 
My  wool  disdains  a  lye,  or  caldron  hue. 
Poor  Tyre  may  take  it :  me  my  sheep  imbue. 

xiv.  133. — Elphinston's  Translation 

Charming  Ero's  golden  lock 
Beat  the  fleece  of  Baetic  flock. 

v.  37.    See  §  21.— Ib. 

Baetic  fleeces,  many  a  pound. 

xii.  65. 1.  5. 
Let  him  commend  the  sober  native  hues ; 
Of  Baetic  drab,  or  gray,  lacernas  choose, 
Who  thinks  no  man  in  scarlet  should  appear, 
And  only  women  pink  or  purple  wear. 

i.  97. 

The  numerous  passages,  which  have  now  been  produced 
relative  to  the  native  colors  of  the  Spanish  wool,  explain  the 
following  line  of  Virgil,  in  which  he  describes  the  clothing  of  a 
warrior ; 

With  broider'd  chlamys  bright,  and  Spanish  rust. 

JEn.  ix  582 


PASTORAL  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  289 

The  poet  probably  intended  to  describe  an  outer  garment,  a 
chlamys,  made  of  undyed  Spanish  wool  of  a  clear  brown  or 
yellowish  color,  resembling  that  of  rust;  and  afterwards  en- 
riched with  embroidery. 

Ramirez  de  Prado,  the  Spanish  commentator  on  Martial 
(4tfo.  Paris,  1607.),  says,  that  two  native  colors  were  common 
in  Spain  in  his  time,  the  one  a  golden  yellow,  the  other  more 
brown  or  ferruginous. 

In  the  North  of  Spain  the  Celtiberi  wore  saga  made  of  a 
coarse  wool  like  goats'-hair  (Diod.  JSic.  v.  33.  torn.  i.  p.  356. 
Wesseling .),  and  woven  double  according  to  Appian*. 

At  Salacia  in  Lusitania,  according  to  Pliny,  a  chequered  pat- 
tern was  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  the  coarse  wool.  This 
was  in  all  probability  the  same  as  the  shepherd's  plaid  of  the 
Scotch,  the  weaver  taking  advantage  of  the  natural  difference 
of  the  white  and  black  wool  to  produce  this  variety  of  appear- 
ance.   (See  Appendix  A.) 

Estremadura,  a  part  of  the  ancient  Baetica,  is  still  famous  fol- 
ks wool.  There  the  Spanish  flocks  hybernate,  and  under  the 
direction  of  a  peculiar  code  of  laws,  called  La  Mesta,  are  con- 
ducted every  spring  to  pasture  in  the  mountains  of  Leon  and 
Asturias.  Other  flocks  are  led  in  the  same  season  from  great 
distances  to  the  heights  of  the  Sierra  Morena,  lying  to  the  east 
of  the  ancient  Baetica,  where  the  vegetation  is  remarkably  fa- 
vorable to  the  improvement  of  their  wool. 

As  bearing  directly  upon  the  present  inquiry  it  may  be  ob- 
served, that  sheep  have  always  been  bred  principally  for  the 
weaver,  not  for  the  butcher,  and  that  this  has  been  more  espe- 
cially the  case  in  ancient  times  and  in  eastern  countries. 

If  we  may  judge  from  the  following  epigram  of  Martial,  the 
Romans  regarded  with  feelings  little  short  of  aversion  the  act 
of  killing  a  sheep  for  food  except  on  solemn  or  extraordinary 
occasions. 

The  Ram's  head. 
Hast  pierc'd  the  neck  of  the  Phryxean  lord, 
Who  oft  had  shelter'd  thine  ?   O  deed  abhorr'd  ! 

xii.  211. — Elphinston's  Translation. 


*  Appiani  Hist.  Rom.  1.  vi.  de  Rebus  Hispan.,  vol.  i.  p.  151.  ed.  Schweighauser. 

37 


290 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


The  customs  of  the  shepherd  tribes  in  the  East  are  in  this 
respect  remarkably  like  those  of  the  ancients. 

"  The  Arabs  rarely  diminish  their  flocks  by  using  them  for 
food,  but  live  chiefly  upon  bread,  dates,  milk,  butter,  or  what 
they  receive  in  exchange  for  their  wool.  They  however  sell 
their  sheep  to  the  people  in  the  towns.  A  lamb  or  kid  roasted 
whole  is  a  favorite  dish  at  Aleppo,  but  seldom  eaten  except  by 
the  rich*."  When  the  Arabs  have  a  sheep-shearing,  they  per- 
haps kill  a  lamb,  and  treat  their  relations  and  friends  with  it 
together  with  new  cheese  and  milk,  but  nothing  more.  Among 
the  Mohammedans  sheep  are  sacrificed  on  certain  days  as  a 
festive  and  at  the  same  time  a  religious  ceremony ;  these  cere- 
monies are  of  great  antiquity  and  derived  from  Arab  heathen- 
ism. On  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  every  one  is  required  to  sac- 
rifice a  sheep  at  a  certain  place  near  Meccat. 

By  the  Law  of  Moses  the  sheep  was  a  clean  animal,  and 
might  consequently  be  eaten  or  sacrificed.  A  lamb  or  kid, 
roasted  whole,  was  the  principal  and  characteristic  dish  at  the 
feast  of  the  passover.  The  rich  man  kills  a  lamb  to  entertain 
his  guest  in  the  beautiful  parable  of  Nathan.  (2  Sam.  xii.  4.) 
Sheep  were  killed  on  the  festive  occasion  of  shearing  the  very 
numerous  flocks  of  Nabal.  (1  Sam.  xxv.  2.  11.  18.)  An  ox 
and  six  choice  sheep  were  sacrificed  daily  for  the  numerous 
guests  of  Nehemiah,  while  he  was  building  the  wall  of  Jeru- 
salem. (Neh.  v.  17,  18.)  Immense  numbers  of  sheep  and  oxen 
were  sacrificed  at  the  dedication  of  Solomon's  temple.  (1  Kings, 
viii.  5.  63.)  The  prophet  Ezekiel  (xxxiv.  3.)  describes  the  bad 
shepherd  as  selfishly  eating  the  flesh  and  clothing  himself  with 
the  wool  of  the  sheep,  without  tending  them  with  due  care  and 
labor. 

In  the  Suovetaurilia  among  the  Romans  a  hog,  a  sheep,  and 
a  bull,  their  principal  domestic  animals,  were  sacrificed.  A 
sheep  was  killed  every  day  for  the  guards,  who  watched  the 
tomb  of  Cyrus.    (Arrian,  vol.  i.  p.  438,  Blancardi.)    In  the 

*  Harmer's  Observations,  vol.  i.  p.  393.  ed.  Clarke, 
t  Harmer,  p.  39. 

Pallas  (Spicilegia  Zoologica,  Fasc.  xi.  p.  79.)  speaks  of  the  beautiful  lamb-skins 
from  Bucharia,  as  being  admired  for  their  curled  gray  wool. 


PASTORAL  LIFE   OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


291 


Odyssey  (p.  180-182.)  a  sacrifice  is  made  and  a  feast  prepared 
of  sheep,  goats,  hogs,  and  a  cow.  Also  in  Od.  v.  3.  250.  sheep 
are  sacrificed  and  furnish  part  of  a  feast.  In  order  to  ratify  a 
treaty  between  the  Greeks  and  Trojans,  the  former  sacrificed  a 
lamb  of  the  male  sex  to  Jupiter ;  the  latter  one  of  the  male 
sex  and  white  to  the  Sun,  and  another  of  the  female  sex  and 
black  to  the  Earth.  (II.  y.  103,  104.)  Sheep  are  sacrificed  to 
Apollo  at  Delphi  in  Euripides,  Ion,  I.  230.  380.  The  rare  in- 
stances of  the  use  of  sheep  for  food  or  sacrifice  by  the  Egyptians 
have  been  already  noticed. 

But,  although  sheep,  both  old  and  young,  male  and  female, 
were  sacrificed  to  the  objects  of  religious  worship  and  on  other 
festive  occasions  were  eaten,  especially  by  the  rich  and  great, 
yet  their  chief  use  was  to  supply  clothing,  and  the  nourishment 
they  yielded  consisted  in  their  milk  and  the  cheese  made  from 
it,  rather  than  in  their  flesh. 

This  fact  is  illustrated  by  the  words  of  Solomon,  formerly 
quoted,  and  in  which  he  speaks  of  lambs  for  clothing  and 
goat's  milk  for  food.  In  like  manner  St.  Paul  says  (1  Cor.  ix. 
7.),  "Who  planteth  a  vineyard,  and  eateth  not  of  the  fruit 
thereof  ?  or  who  feedeth  a  flock,  and  eateth  not  of  the  milk  of 
the  flock  ?" 

Varro  thinks,  that  sheep  were  employed  for  the  use  of  man  be- 
fore any  other  animal  on  account  of  their  usefulness  and  placid- 
ity, and  he  represents  their  use  to  consist  in  supplying  cheese  and 
milk  for  food,  fleeces  and  skins  for  clothing*.  In  like  manner 
Columella  in  his  account  of  the  use  of  sheep  (vii.  2.)  says,  they  af- 
forded the  chief  materials  for  clothing.  In  treating  of  their  use 
for  food,  he  mentions  only  their  milk  and  cheese.  Pliny  refers 
to  the  employment  of  sheep  both  for  sacrifices  and  for  clothing. 
He  also  remarks,  that  as  the  ox  is  principally  useful  in  obtain- 
ing food,  to  wit,  by  ploughing  and  other  agricultural  processes, 
the  sheep,  on  the  other  hand,  supplies  materials  for  clothingf. 

The  fact,  that  wool  was  among  the  ancients  by  far  the  most 
common  material  for  making  clothes,  accounts  for  the  various 


*  De  Re  Rustica,  1.  ii.  cap.  i. 


t  See  Appendix  A. 


292 


SHEEP  BREEDING  AND 


expressions  in  scripture  respecting  the  destructiveness  of  the 
moth. 

"  Your  garments  are  moth-eaten."  James  v.  2.  "  He,  as  a 
rotten  thing,  consumeth,  as  a  garment  that  is  moth-eaten." — 
Job  xiii.  28.  "  They  all  shall  wax  old  as  a  garment,  the  moth 
shall  eat  them  up." — Is.  1.  9.  "  The  moth  shall  eat  them  up 
like  a  garment,  and  the  worms  shall  eat  them  like  wool."  Is. 
li.  8.  "  From  garments  cometh  a  moth."  Eccles.  xlii.  13. 
"  Treasures,  where  moth  and  rust  corrupt."    Matt.  vi.  19. 

But  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  sacred  writers  mention  not 
the  moth,  but  the  minute  worm,  which  changes  into  a  moth, 
and  which  alone  gnaws  the  garments.  In  the  passages  which 
have  been  quoted,  the  word  "  moth"  must  be  understood  to  sig- 
nify the  larva*  of  the  clothes-moth  (Phalczna  Vestianella, 
Linn.),  or  of  some  insect  of  the  same  kind. 


*  When  an  insect  first  issues  from  the  egg,  it  is  called  by  naturalists  larva. 


CHAPTER  IV, 

GOATS-HAIR. 


ANCIENT   HISTORY    OF   THE    GOAT  ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE  SCRIP- 
TURES, ETC. 

Sheep-breeding  and  Goats  in  China — Probable  origin  of  sheep  and  goats — Sheep 
and  goats  coeval  with  man,  and  always  propagated  together — Habits  of  Gre- 
cian goat-herds — He-goat  employed  to  lead  the  flock — Cameo  representing  a 
goat-herd — Goats  chiefly  valued  for  their  milk — Use  of  goats'-hair  for  coarse 
clothing — Shearing  of  goats  in  Phrygia,  Cilicia,  &c. — Vestes  caprina,  cloth  of 
goats'-hair — Use  of  goats'-hair  for  military  and  naval  purposes — Curtains  to 
cover  tents — Etymology  of  Sack  and  Shag — Symbolical  uses  of  sack-cloth — 
The  Arabs  weave  goats'-hair — Modern  uses  of  goats'-hair  and  goats' -wool — 
Introduction  of  the  Angora  or  Cashmere  goat  into  France — Success  of  the 
project. 

The  inquiry  into  the  origin  and  propagation  of  the  Goat,  no 
less  than  that  of  the  sheep,  may  justly  be  considered  a  subject 
for  interesting  investigation.  Goats  were  no  less  highly  prized 
by  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Greece  and  Italy  than  by  the 
modern.  We  have  seen,  that  the  great  value  of  sheep  always 
consisted  in  its  fleece.  The  goat,  on  the  contrary,  was  more 
valued  for  the  excellence  and  abundance  of  its  milk,  and  for  its 
suitableness  to  higher  and  more  rugged  and  unproductive  land*. 

We  observe  a  clear  allusion  to  this  distinction  between  the 
principal  uses  of  sheep  and  of  goats  in  the  twenty-seventh 
chapter  of  the  book  of  Proverbsf.    The  management  and  use 


*  Virgil,  Georg.  iii.  305-321. 

t  "  Be  thou  diligent  to  know  the  state  of  thy  flocks,  and  look  well  to  thy  herds. 
The  lambs  are  for  thy  clothing,  and  the  goats  are  the  price  of  thy  field ;  and  thou 
shalt  have  goats'  milk  enough  for  thy  food,  for  the  food  of  thy  household,  and  for 
the  maintenance  of  thy  maidens."    Prov.  xxvii.  23,  26,  27. 

Bochart  has  quoted  a  great  variety  of  ancient  testimonies  to  the  value  of  goats' - 
milk  in  his  Hierozoicon,  L  ii.  cap.  51.  pp.  629,  630.  ed.  Leusden. 


294 


ANCIENT   HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


of  goats  has  from  time  immemorial  formed  a  striking  feature  in 
the  condition  of  man,  and  especially  of  those  nations  which  be- 
long to  the  Caucasian,  or,  as  Dr.  Prichard  more  properly  de- 
nominates it,  the  Iranian  or  Indo- Atlantic  variety  of  our  race*. 
Their  habits  of  sheep-breeding  seem  no  less  characteristic  than 
the  form  of  their  countenances,  a  no  less  essential  part  of  their 
manner  of  life  than  any  other  custom,  by  which  they  are  dis- 
tinguished: and,  as  all  the  circumstances,  which  throw  any 
light  upon  the  question,  conspire  to  render  it  probable,  that  the 
above-mentioned  variety  of  the  human  race  first  inhabited  part 
of  the  high  land  of  central  Asia,  so  it  is  remarkable,  that  our 
domestic  sheep  and  goats  may  with  the  greatest  probability  be 
referred  to  the  same  stock  with  certain  wild  animals,  which 
now  overspread  those  regions.  The  sheep,  as  has  been  already 
observed  in  chapter  I.,  is  regarded  as  specifically  the  same  with 

*  See  Prichard's  Researches  into  the  Physical  History  of  Mankind,  third  edi- 
tion, vol.  i.  pp.  247.  257-262.  303,  304.  These  nations  are  characterized  by  the 
oval  form  of  the  skull.  Their  distribution  over  the  face  of  the  earth  may  be  seen 
in  the  Map,  Plate  VII. 

The  only  remarkable  exception  to  this  limitation  of  ancient  sheep-breeding,  is 
the  case  of  the  Chinese.  It  would  appear  from  the  .following  evidence,  that  they 
had  both  sheep  and  goats  in  ancient  times. 

The  Chinese  character  for  a  sacrifice  is  a  compound  of  two  characters,  one 
placed  above  the  other ;  the  upper  one,  Yang,  is  the  character  for  a  lamb,  the 
lower  is  the  character  for  fire  ;  so  that  a  lamb  on  the  fire  denotes  a  sacrifice.  See 
Morison's  Chinese  Dictionary,  vol.  iii.  part  i. 

According  to  the  mythology  of  the  Chinese,  which  as  well  as  their  written 
characters  is  of  high  antiquity,  one  of  the  four  rivers,  which  rise  in  Mount  Kaen- 
lun  and  run  towards  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  is  called  the  Yang-Choui,  i.  e. 
the  Lamb-River.  Thomas  Stephens  Davies,  Esq.  in  Dr.  Robert  Thomson's  Brit- 
ish Annual  for  1837,  p.  271.  277. 

Yang-Ching,  i.  e.  Sheep-city,  was  an  ancient  name  of  Canton.  Morison,  p. 
55.  There  is  a  character  for  the  Goat,  which  means  the  Yang  of  the  mountains, 
Yang  being  a  general  term  like  the  Hebrew  including  both  sheep  and 

goats.    Ib.  p.  61,  62. 

In  the  following  passage  of  Rufus  Festus  Avienus,  who  flourished  about  A.  D. 
400,  we  have  a  distinct  testimony,  that  the  ancient  Seres,  the  probable  ancestors 
of  the  Chinese,  employed  themselves  in  the  care  of  sheep  at  the  same  time  that 
they  were  devoted  to  the  production  of  silk. 

Gregibus  permixti  oviumque  boumque, 
Vellera  per  silvas  Seres  nemoralia  carpunt. 

Descriptio  Orbis  Terra?,  1.  935,  936 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT.  295 

the  Argali ;  and  in  the  opinion  of  Pallas,  which  has  been  very 
generally  adopted  by  zoologists,  the  goat  is  the  same  with  the 
iEgagrus,  a  gregarious  quadruped,  which  occupies  the  loftiest 
parts  of  the  mountains  extending  from  the  Caucasus  to  the 
South  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  thence  to  the  North  of  India*. 
Indeed  the  history  of  these  animals  is  so  interwoven  with  the 
history  of  man,  that  those  naturalists  have  not  reasoned  quite 
correctly,  who  have  thought  it  necessary  to  refer  the  first  origin 
of  either  of  them  to  any  wild  stock  at  all.  They  assume,  that 
these  quadrupeds  first  existed  in  an  undomesticated  state,  that 
is,  entirely  apart  from  man  and  independent  of  him ;  that,  as 
he  advanced  in  civilization,  as  his  wants  multiplied,  and  he  be- 
came more  ingenious  and  active  in  inventing  methods  of  sup- 
plying them,  the  thought  struck  him,  that  he  might  obtain 
from  these  wild  beasts  the  materials  of  his  food  and  clothing ; 
and  that  he  therefore  caught  and  confined  some  of  them  and 
in  the  course  of  time  rendered  them  by  cultivation  more  and 
more  suitable  to  his  purposes. 

We  have  no  reason  to  assume,  that  man  and  the  two  lesser 
kinds  of  horned  cattle  were  originally  independent  of  one  an- 
other.  So  far  as  geology  supplies  any  evidence,  it  is  in  favor 
of  the  supposition,  that  these  quadrupeds  and  man  belong  to 
the  same  epoch.  No  properly  fossil  bones  either  of  the  sheep  or 
goat  have  yet  been  found,  and  we  have  no  reason  to  believe, 
that  these  animals  were  produced  until  the  creation  of  man. 
But,  as  we  must  suppose,  that  man  was  created  perfect  and 
full-grown,  and  with  those  means  of  subsistence  around  him, 
which  his  nature  and  constitution  require,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  sheep  and  the  goat  may  not  have  been  created  in  such 
a  state  as  to  be  adapted  immediately  both  for  clothing  and  for 
food,  or  why  it  should  be  considered  more  probable  that  they 
were  at  first  entirely  wild.  They  may  have  been  produced 
originally  in  the  same  abode,  which  was  occupied  by  that  va- 
riety of  the  human  race,  to  whose  habits  and  mode  of  life  the 
use  of  them  has  always  been  so  essential ;  and,  if  we  assume, 


*  Pallas,  Spicilegia  Zoologica,  Fasciculus  xi.  pp.  43,  44.  See  also  Bell's  His- 
tory of  British  Quadrupeds,  London,  1837,  p.  433. 


296 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


that  this  abode  was  somewhere  in  the  elevated  land  of  central 
Asia,  in  the  region,  for  example,  of  Armenia,  we  adopt  an  hy- 
pothesis, which  explains  in  the  most  simple  and  satisfactory- 
manner  the  apparent  fact  of  the  propagation  not  only  of  men, 
but  of  these  quadrupeds  with  them,  from  that  centre  over  im- 
mense regions  of  the  globe. 

With  regard  to  historical  evidence,  it  is  certainly  very  defec- 
tive. No  express  testimony  assures  us  of  the  facts  included  in 
the  above-named  hypothesis.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain, 
and  it  appears  very  deserving  of  attention,  viz.  that  the  sheep 
and  the  goat  have  always  been  propagated  together.  We  find 
great  nations,  which  had  no  acquaintance  with  either  of  these 
quadrupeds,  but  depended  for  their  subsistence  upon  either 
oxen  or  horses.  We  find  others,  on  the  contrary,  to  whose 
mode  of  life  the  larger  quadrupeds  were  of  much  less  impor- 
tance than  the  smaller ;  but  we  find  none,  which  were  accus- 
tomed to  breed  sheep  without  goats,  or  goats  without  sheep. 

The  reader  will  find  numerous  illustrations  of  this  fact  on 
reviewing  the  evidence  contained  in  the  preceding  chapters. 
General  terms  were  employed  in  the  ancient  world  to  include 
both  sheep  and  goats*.  Where  more  specific  terms  are  used, 
we  still  find  "  rams  and  goats,"  "  ewes  and  she-goats"  mentioned 
together.  Sheep  and  goats  were  offered  together  in  sacrifice, 
and  the  instances  are  too  numerous  to  mention,  in  which  the 
same  flock,  or  the  wealth  of  a  single  individual,  included  both 
these  animals. 

In  consequence  of  this  prevailing  association  of  sheep  and 
goats,  they  are  often  represented  together  in  ancient  bas-reliefs 
and  other  works  of  art.  Of  this  we  have  a  beautiful  example 
in  the  Rev.  Robert  Walpole's  collection  of  "  Travels  in  various 
countries  of  the  East."  At  the  end  of  the  volume  is  a  plate 
taken  from  a  votive  tablet  of  Pentelic  marble  dedicated  to  Pan, 
and  representing  five  goats,  two  sheep,  and  a  lamb.  As  the 
goats  are  in  one  group,  and  the  sheep  and  lamb  in  another,  the 
artist  probably  designed  to  represent  a  flock  of  each.  For, 


*  It  should  be  observed,  that  the  Hebrew  word  translated  sheep  in  Ex.  ix.  3. 
included  Goats. 


ANCIENT   HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


297 


though  sometimes  mixed  in  the  same  flock,  the  two  kinds  of 
animals  were  generally  kept  apart;  and  to  this  circumstance 
our  Savior  alludes  in  his  image  of  the  shepherd  dividing  the 
sheep  from  the  goats*. 

A  sheep  and  a  goat  are  seen  reposing  together  in  a  Roman 
bas-relief  in  the  Monumenta  Mattheeiana,  vol.  hi.  tab.  37.  fig.  1. 

Rosselini  gives  two  paintings  from  Egyptian  tombs,  which  ex- 
hibit both  sheep  and  goatst ;  and  he  mentions  an  inscription  on 
the  tomb  of  Ranni,  according  to  which  that  person  had  120 
goats,  300  rams,  1500  hogs,  and  122  oxen. 

In  the  account  given  in  chapter  II.  of  the  Sicilian  Daphnis,  an 
epigram  by  Callimachus  on  Astacides,  who  was  a  goatherd  in 
Crete,  was  partially  quoted,  probably  remarkable  for  his  beauty 
and  his  immature  death.  The  translation  of  the  passage  will 
now  be  given. 

'AvTdKiSriv  top  KjOrjTOf)  top  aiTToXop,  r'ipira(T£  l$v[x<pri 

JE£  opto?  Kal  pvp  iepdg  'Ao-ra/ciJ»7J 
Ot/cei  AiKTatyrip  vtto  Spvaip'  ovkcti  Aa<ppiv 

Tloi[X€P£S}  'AaTdKiSriP  <T  aiep  deLno^zQa. 

A  nymph  has  snatch'd  Astacides  away  ; 

Beneath  Dictsean  oaks  our  goatherd  lies : 
Shepherds !  no  more  your  songs  to  Daphnis  pay  ; 

For  now  with  him  the  sacred  Cretan  vies. 

Yates's  Translation. 

Theocritus  [Idyll,  vii.  12-20.)  describes  a  goatherd  of  Cydon 
in  Crete,  named  Lycidas  ;  and  from  the  account  which  he 
gives  of  his  attire,  we  may  judge  of  that  commonly  used  in 
ancient  Greece  by  the  same  description  of  persons.  He  wore 
on  his  shoulders  the  dun-colored  hide  of  a  shaggy  goat,  and  an 
old  shawl  was  fastened  about  his  breast  with  a  broad  girdle. 
In  his  right  hand  he  held  a  crook  of  wild  olive. 

The  same  author  {Idyll,  iii.  5.)  mentions  a  fine  strong 


*  "  When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with 
him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory :  and  before  him  shall  be  gath- 
ered all  nations  :  and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd 
divides  his  sheep  from  the  goats  :  and  he  shall  set  the  sheep  on  his  right  hand, 
but  the  goats  on  the  left."— -Matt.  xxv.  31-33. 

t  Monumenti  dell'  Egitto,  parte  ii.  Mon.  Civili,  tomo  i.  cap.  iii.  §  2.  tavola  xxviii. 
xxix. 

38 


298 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


he-goat,  which  was  brought  from  Lybia  to  Sicily.  The  de- 
sign of  its  transportation  was,  no  doubt,  to  improve  the  breed. 
Probably  Chromis,  the  Lybian  [Idyll,  i.  24.),  who  resided  in 
Sicily,  had  migrated  there  to  undertake  the  management  of 
goats  and  to  improve  their  quality. 

Maximus  Tyrius  (Diss,  xxvii.)  seems  to  suppose,  that  a 
flock  of  goats  could  not  even  exist  without  the  music  of  the 
syrinx.  "  If  you  take  away,"  says  he,  "  the  goatherd  and  his 
syrinx,  you  dissolve  the  flock  of  goats ;  in  like  manner,  if  you 
take  away  reason  from  the  society  of  men,  thus  depriving  them 
of  their  leader  and  guide,  you  destroy  the  flock,  which  by  na- 
ture is  tame,  but  may  be  injured  by  a  bad  superintendence." 

The  he-goat  was  employed  to  lead  the  flock  as  the  ram  was 
among  sheep.  The  following  passages  of  scripture  allude  to 
this  custom.  "  Remove  out  of  the  midst  of  Babylon,  and  go 
forth  out  of  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  be  as  the  he-goats 
before  the  flocks."  Jer.  1.  8.  "Mine  anger  was  kindled  against 
the  shepherds,  and  1  punished  the  goats."  Zech.  x.  3.  In 
Proverbs  xxx.  31.,  according  to  the  Septuagint  version,  we  read 
of  "  the  goat  which  leads  the  flock."  Julius  Pollux  (Lib.  i.  cap. 
12.  sect.  19.)  says,  that  "  The  he-goat  leads  the  goats*." 

On  a  cameo  in  the  Florentine  Museum  there  is  a  represen- 
tation of  an  ancient  goatherdt.  The  goatherd  holds  the  syrinx 
in  his  left  hand,  and  a  young  kid  in  his  right.  A  goat  stands 
beside  him,  and  his  dog  appears  partially  concealed  within  a 
kennel  formed  in  the  rock,  upon  which  the  goatherd  is  seated. 
The  herdsman  is  represented  sitting  under  an  aged  ilex.  At 
least  this  supposition  accords  with  the  language  of  Tibullus  al- 
ready quoted. 

A  modern  authoress,  who  spent  some  of  the  summer  months 
in  the  year  1819  among  the  mountains  east  of  Rome,  notices 
goats  in  the  following  terms  as  part  of  the  stock  of  the  farmers 
in  that  country. 

"  We  frequently  walked  to  one  of  these  little  farms,  to  meet 
the  goats  coming  in  at  night  from  the  mountain.    As  the 


*  See  also  iElian,  Hist.  Anim.  vi.  42.  and  Pausanias,  ix.  13.  4. 

t  Mus.  Florentinum.    Gemmae  antiquae  a  Gorio  illustratae.  tab.  xc.  No.  7. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


299 


flock  crowded  down  the  broken  road  leading  to  the  fold,  follow- 
ed by  their  grotesque-looking  shepherd  and  his  rough  dogs,  the 
pet-kids  crowding  round  their  master  and  answering  to  his 
call,  we  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  antique  manners  de- 
scribed by  the  poets,  and  represented  in  the  pictures  of  Hercu- 
laneum  and  Pompeii. 

"  The  goats  are  the  most  useful  domestic  animals.  Here  no 
other  cheese  or  milk  is  tasted.  Besides,  the  ricotta,  a  kind  of 
curd,  and  junkets,  are  made  of  goats'-milk,  and,  with  bread 
serve  many  of  the  country  people  for  food*." 

From  Athenaeusf  we  learn  the  superior  excellence  of  the  goats 
of  Scyros  and  Naxos. 

Virgil  (I.  c),  after  mentioning  the  use  of  goats  for  food,  goes 
on  to  show  their  contributions  to  the  weaver. 

Cloth'd  in  their  shaven  beards  and  hoary  hair, 
Fence  of  the  ocean  spray  and  nightly  air, 
The  miserable  seaman  breasts  the  main, 
And  camps  uninjur'd  press  the  marshy  plain. 

Sotheby's  Translation. 

The  last  line  of  this  passage  of  Virgil  is  quoted  by  Columella 
(L.  vii.  6.)  in  speaking  of  the  utility  of  the  he-goat ; 

For  he  himself  is  shorn  "  for  the  use  of  camps  and  to  make  coverings  for 
wretched  sailors." 

Virgil,  moreover,  has  here  followed  Varro,  who  writes  thus ; 

As  the  sheep  yields  to  man  wool  for  clothing,  so  the  goat  furnishes  hair  for  the 
use  of  sailors,  and  to  make  ropes  for  military  engines,  and  vessels  for  artificers. 
*****  The  goats  are  shorn  in  a  great  part  of  Phrygia,  because  there 
they  have  long  shaggy  hair.  Cilicia  (i.  e.  hair-cloths),  and  other  things  of  the 
same  kind,  are  commonly  imported  from  that  country.    The  name  Cilicia  is 


*  Three  Months  passed  in  the  Mountains  east  of  Rome,  by  Maria  Graham 
(Lady  Calcott),  p.  36.  55,  56. 

The  same  writer  says,  that  "  black  sheep  are  rather  encouraged  here  for  the 
wool,"  and  that  "  the  clothing  of  the  friars  is  of  this  undyed  wool."    p.  55. 

t  Quoted  in  Chapter  I.  p.  236.  JElian  bears  testimony  to  the  same  fact,  observ- 
ing, that  the  cows  of  Epirus  were  said  to  yield  the  greatest  quantity  of  milk,  and 
the  goats  of  Scyros.    Hist.  Anim.  L  hi.  cap.  33. 

From  Tournefort,  Sonnini,  and  other  modern  travellers  we  learn,  that  both 
Scyros  and  Naxos  are  very  rocky  and  mountainous,  and  that  they  still  produce 
goats.    See  also  Dapper,  Description  des  Isles  de  l'Archipel,  p.  256.  350. 


300 


ANCIENT   HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


said  to  be  derived  from  the  circumstance,  that  in  Cilicia  goats  were  first  shorn 
for  this  purpose.    De  Re  Rustica,  L.  ii.  c.  ii.  p.  201.  ed.  Bip. 

The  language  of  Varro  in  this  passage  indicates,  that  the  fe- 
male goat  was  shorn  as  well  as  the  male  ;  and  that  the  excel- 
lence of  goats'-hair,  which  was  used  only  for  coarse  articles, 
consisted  in  its  length.  Columella  mentions  the  long  bristly- 
hair  of  the  Cilician  goats*. 

Aristotle  says,  u  In  Lycia  goats  are  shorn,  as  sheep  are  in 
other  countries."  Hist.  Anim.  viii.  28.  This  testimony  of 
Aristotle  agrees  with  that  of  his  nephew  and  pupil,  Callisthenes, 
who  says  (ap.  JElian.  de  Nat.  Anim.  xvi.  30.),  "  that  in  Lycia 
goats  are  shorn  just  as  sheep  are  everywhere  else ;  for  that  they 
have  a  very  thick  coat  of  excellent  hair,  hanging  from  them  in 
locks  or  curls ;  and  that  this  hair  is  twisted  so  as  to  make  ropes, 
which  are  used  in  navigation  instead  of  cables." 

Pliny,  in  his  account  of  goatst,  says,  "  In  Cilicia  and  about 
the  Syrtes  they  are  covered  with  hair,  which  admits  of  being 
shorn."  Prom  this  it  may  be  inferred,  in  conformity  with  the 
testimonies  already  cited  from  Varro  and  Virgil,  that  the  long- 
est and  best  goats'-hair  was  obtained  in  Cilicia,  and  on  the  coast 
of  Africa  opposite  to  Sicily  and  Malta,  the  modern  Tripoli.  It 
is  remarkable,  that  Virgil,  in  order  to  designate  the  latter  dis- 
trict, refers  to  the  romantic  river  Cinyps,  which  flowed  through 
it,  observing  the  same  practice,  which  wre  have  seen  to  be  so 
common  with  the  poets  in  regard  to  the  countries  noted  for  the 
produce  of  the  most  excellent  wool.  In  the  interior  and  more 
hilly  portion  of  this  district  of  Africa  both  sheep  and  goats  are 
still  rearedj. 

The  geographer  Avienus  asserts  that  goats'-hair  was  obtain- 
ed for  the  purpose  of  being  woven  in  the  country  of  the  Cynetse 
in  Spain§.  Isidore  of  Seville,  in  his  enumeration  of  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  cloth  (Orig.  xix.  22.),  uses  the  following  expres- 

*  Setosum,  quale  est  in  Cilicia.    De  Re  Rustica,  1.  i.  Prref.  p.  20.  ed.  Bip. 
t  L.  viii.  c.  76.    See  Appendix  A. 

X  Proceedings  of  the  Expedition  to  explore  the  Northern  Coast  of  Africa  from 
Tripoli  Eastward,  by  Beechey,  ch.  iv.  p.  73.  In  the  same  chapter,  p.  52.  62-68, 
is  an  account  of  the  Wad'el  Khahan,  the  ancient  Cinyps. 

§  Rufi  Festi  Avieni  Ora  Maritima,  I  218-221. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


301 


sions :  "  Fibrini  (vestis  est)  tramam  de  fibri  lana  habens :  ca- 
prina."  Thus  the  text  now  stands,  evidently  defective.  The 
writer  no  doubt  alluded  to  a  kind  of  cloth  called  caprina,  be- 
cause goats'-hair  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of  it.  Beckmann 
{History  of  Inventions,  Eng.  Trans.,  vol.  iv.  p.  224.)  proposes 
to  read,  "  tramam  de  fibri  lana  habens,  stamen  de  caprina,"  i.  e. 
"  having  the  woof  of  beaver-wool,  the  warp  of  goats'-wool."  But 
the  ancients  were  unacquainted  with  the  fine  wTool  of  certain 
goats,  and  it  is  highly  improbable,  that  they  used  goats'-Aair 
in  the  case  referred  to,  since  the  "  Vestes  Fibrinse"  were  of  great 
value,  as  will  soon  be  shown,  and  not  made  in  any  part  of  coarsp 
materials. 

The  cloth  of  goats'-hair  would  be  suitable  for  sailors,  both  on 
account  of  their  hardy  mode  of  life,  and  because  it  was  better 
adapted  than  any  other  kind  to  bear  exposure  to  water. 

Its  use  as  clothing  to  express  mourning  and  mortification 
will  be  noticed  presently. 

The  employment  of  goats'-hair  for  military  and  naval  pur- 
poses was  far  more  extensive,  and  is  proved  by  the  following 
passage  from  the  Geoponica  (xviii.  9.)  in  addition  to  the  former 
testimonies. 

TlpoaoSovg  6i6u)(Tiv  ovk  6\iyagf  rag  and  yaXaKrog  koX  rvpov  koX  (jjapKog}*  irpdg  de  tovtois 
rag  and  r^g  rpi^og.  rj  Je  6pl£  dvayKaia  rrpog  re  c^oivovg  Kal  caKKovg,  koi  to.  rovrotg 
irapairXfiaia^  Kal  eig  vavrtKag  v7rripeo-iag}  ovte  KOTrropeva  paSio)gj  ovte  an]Tro^zva  ^vo-ifcwj,  iav 
fir)  \iav  KaTo\iyiopr}Q7]. 

The  goat  yields  no  small  profit  from  its  milk,  cheese,  and  (flesh).  Jt  also  yields 
a  profit  from  its  hair,  which  is  necessary  for  making  ropes,  sacks,  and  similar  ar- 
ticles, and  for  nautical  purposes,  since  it  is  not  easily  cut,  and  does  not  rot  from 
natural  causes,  unless  it  be  much  neglected. — Yates's  Translation. 

Cicero  [in  Verrem,  Act  i.)  mentions  Cilicia  together  with 
hides  and  sacks,  and  Asconius  Pedianus  in  his  Commentary 
on  the  passage  (p.  95.  ed.  Crenii.)  gives  the  following  expla- 
nation :  "  Cilicia  texta  de  pilis  in  castrorum  usum  atque  nauta- 
rum."  Servius  on  Virgil,  Georg.  iii.  313.  says,  that  these  Cili- 
cia, or  cloths  of  goats'-hair,  were  used  to  cover  the  towers  in 
sieges,  because  they  could  not  be  set  on  fire. 

The  reader  is  referred  to  the  Poliorcetica  of  Lipsius,  L.  iii. 
Dial.  3.  p.  158.  for  evidence  respecting  the  use  of  hair  ropes  for 


302 


i 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


military  engines,  and  to  L.  v.  Dial.  ix.  for  passages  from  Thu- 
cydides,  Arrian,  Ammianus,  Suidas,  Vegetius,  Curtius,  and 
others,  proving,  that  the  besieged  in  cities  hung  Cilicia  over 
their  towers  and  walls  to  obviate  the  force  of  the  various  weap- 
ons hurled  against  them,  and  especially  of  the  arrows,  which 
carried  fire. 

From  Exodus  we  learn*,  that  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness 
among  their  contributions  to  the  Tabernacle  gave  goats'-hair, 
and  that  it  was  spun  by  women.  The  spun  goats'-hair  was 
probably  used  in  part  to  make  cords  for  the  tent ;  but  part 
of  it  at  least  was  woven  into  the  large  pieces,  called  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint  "  curtains  of  goats'-hair."  Such  curtains,  or  Saga,  of 
spun  goats'-hair  seem  to  have  been  commonly  used  for  the  cov- 
ering of  tentst. 

Cloths  of  the  same  kind  were  used  for  rubbing  horses!.  The 
term  for  goats'-hair  cloth  in  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and  Syraic,  is 
pa  or  pttJ,  i.  e.  Shac,  or  Sac,  translated  DAKKOS  in  the  Septua- 
gint,  and  Saccus  in  the  Vulgate  version  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
Latin  Sagum,  appears  to  have  had  the  same  origin.  In  Eng- 
lish we  have  Sack  and  Shag,  scarcely  differing  from  the  orien- 
tal and  ancient  terms  either  in  sound  or  sense. 


*  "  And  thou  shalt  make  curtains  of  goats'-hair  to  be  a  covering  upon  the  tab- 
ernacle :  eleven  curtains  shalt  thou  make.  The  length  of  one  curtain  shall  be 
thirty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  of  one  curtain  four  cubits  :  and  the  eleven  curtains 
shall  be  all  of  one  measure.  And  thou  shalt  couple  five  curtains  by  themselves, 
and  six  curtains  by  themselves,  and  shalt  double  the  sixth  curtain  in  the  fore- 
front of  the  tabernacle.  And  thou  shalt  make  fifty  loops  on  the  edge  of  the  one 
curtain  that  is  outmost  in  the  coupling,  and  fifty  loops  in  the  edge  of  the  curtain 
which  coupleth  the  second.  And  thou  shalt  make  fifty  taches  of  brass,  and  put 
the  taches  into  the  loops,  and  couple  the  tent  together,  that  it  may  be  one.  And 
the  remnant  that  remaineth  of  the  curtains  of  the  tent,  the  half  curtain  that  re- 
maineth,  shall  hang  over  the  backside  of  the  tabernacle.  And  a  cubit  on  the  one 
side,  and  a  cubit  on  the  other  side  of  that  which  remaineth  in  the  length  of  the 
curtains  of  the  tent,  it  shall  hang  over  the  sides  of  the  tabernacle  on  this  side  and 
on  that  side,  to  cover  it." — Ex.  xxvi.  7-13. 

t  "  And  he  made  curtains  of  goats'-hair  for  the  tent  over  the  tabernacle :  eleven 
curtains  he  made  them.  The  length  of  one  curtain  was  thirty  cubits,  and  four 
cubits  was  the  breadth  of  one  curtain  :  the  eleven  curtains  were  of  one  size."— 
Ex.  xxxvi.  14,  15. 

X  Vegetii  Ars  Veter.  I.  i.  c.  42. 


ANCIENT   HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


303 


Cilice,  the  modern  French  term  for  a  hair-shirt,  is  immedi- 
ately derived  from  Ciliciiim,  the  origin  of  which  has  been  ex- 
plained*. 

This  kind  of  cloth,  which  was  black  or  dark  brown,  the  goats 
of  Syria  and  Palestine  being  chiefly  of  that  color  even  to  the 
present  day,  is  alluded  to  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  Revelationst, 
and  in  Is.  1.  3.  "  I  clothe  the  heavens  with  blackness  and  make 
sack-cloth  their  covering."  It  was  worn  to  express  mourning 
and  mortification.  In  Jonah  we  have  a  very  remarkable  case, 
for  on  this  occasion  blankets  of  goats'-hair  were  put  on  the 
bodies  both  of  men  and  beasts,  and  one  was  worn  even  by  the 
king  of  Nineveh  himselft.  When  Herod  Agrippa  was  seized 
at  Csesarea  with  the  mortal  distemper  mentioned  in  Acts  xii. 
(See  chap.  vi.  p.  93.),  the  common  people  sat  down  on  hair- 
cloth according  to  the  custom  of  their  country,  beseeching  God 
on  his  behalf. — Josephus,  Ant.  Jud.  I.  xix.  cap.  8.  p.  872. 
Hudson.  So  according  to  Josephus  {Ant.  Jud.  I.  vii.  cap.  7. 
p.  299.),  David  fell  down  upon  sack-cloth  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion and  lay  on  the  ground  praying  for  the  restoration  of  his 
son. 

Hence  the  use  of  the  hair-shirt  by  devotees  in  more  recent 
times.  St.  Basil,  Bishop  of  Csesarea  in  the  fourth  century,  in 
answer  to  the  question,  Whether  a  monk  ought  to  have  besides 
his  night-shirt  (post  noctarnam  tunicam)  a  Cilicium  or  any 
other,  says,  "  Cilicii  quidem  usus  habet  proprium  tempus.  Non 
enim  propter  usus  corporis,  sed  propter  afflictionem  carnis  inven- 
tum  est  hujuscemodi  indumentum,  et  propter  humilitatem  ani- 
mae§."    He  then  adds,  that  as  the  word  of  God  forbids  us  to 

*  Menage,  Diet.  Etym.  v.  Cilice. 

t  "  And  I  beheld  when  he  had  opened  the  sixth  seal,  and  lo,  there  was  a  great 
earthquake ;  and  the  sun  became  as  black  as  sack-cloth  of  hair,  and  the  moon 
became  as  blood." — Rev.  vi.  12. 

t  "  So  the  people  of  Nineveh  believed  God,  and  proclaimed  a  fast,  and  put  on 
sack-cloth,  from  the  greatest  of  them  even  to  the  least  of  them.  The  word  came 
unto  the  king  of  Nineveh,  and  he  arose  from  his  throne,  and  he  laid  his  robe  from 
him,  and  covered  him  with  sack-cloth,  and  sat  in  ashes." — Jonah  iii.  5,  6.  In 
v.  5.  we  should  translate  "  pat  on  hair-cloths ;"  for  the  word  is  plural  in  the  He- 
brew. 

||  From  the  ancient  version  of  Rufinus,  p.  175.  ed.  1513. 


304 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OP  THE  GOAT. 


have  two  shirts,  we  ought  not  to  have  a  second  except  for  the 
purpose  here  mentioned.  From  this  it  is  clear,  that  the  Cili- 
cium  was  not  commonly  worn  by  the  monks,  but  only  at  par- 
ticular times  for  the  sake  of  humiliation. 

Dr.  Sibthorp  (in  Memoirs,  edited  by  Walpole,)  informs  us, 
that  in  the  present  day  the  shepherds  of  Attica  "  shear  the 
goats  at  the  same  time  with  the  sheep,  about  April  or  May," 
and  that  the  hair  is  made  into  sacks,  bags,  and  carpets,  of 
which  a  considerable  quantity  is  exported.  In  modern  as  in 
ancient  times,  the  inhabitants  of  Greece  subsist  in  a  great 
measure  upon  goats'-milk  and  the  cheese  made  from  it*. 

The  wives  of  the  Arabian  shepherds  still  weave  goats'-hair 
for  their  tents.  This  hair-cloth  is  nearly  black,  and  resembles 
that  of  which  our  modern  coal-sacks  are  madet.  The  Arabs 
also  hang  bags  of  the  same  cloth,  containing  barley,  about  the 
heads  of  their  horses  to  supply  them  with  foodt. 

The  goat,  as  is  the  case  with  some  other  quadrupeds,  if  con- 
fined to  a  country,  which  is  hot  in  summer  and  very  cold  in 
winter,  is  always  protected  in  the  latter  season  by  an  additional 
covering  of  fine  wool  beneath  its  long  hair.  A  specimen  of  the 
Syrian  goat  in  the  Hunterian  Museum  at  Glasgow  shows  both 
the  hair  and  the  wool.  In  Kerman  and  Cashmere  this  very 
fine  wool  is  obtained  by  combing  the  goats  in  the  spring,  when 
it  becomes  loose ;  and,  having  been  spun  into  yarn,  it  is  used  to 
make  the  beautiful  shawls  brought  from  those  countries. 

We  will  now  conclude  this  chapter  with  the  following  inter- 
esting communication  from  Mr.  E.  Riley,  being  the  substance 
of  a  paper  lately  read  before  the  Society  of  Arts,  London. 

Mr.  Riley  "  in  1825  and  1828  transported  to  that  territory 
two  flocks  of  the  finest  sheep  procurable  throughout  Germany, 


*  Dodwell's  Tour,  vol.  i.  p.  144. 

t  Harmer's  Observations,  ch.  ii.  Obs.  36.  Dr.  Shaw's  Travels,  Part  iii.  ch.  3. 
§  6.    E.  F.  K.  Rosenmuller,  Biblische  Alterthumskunde,  iv.  2.  p.  89. 

The  use  of  goats'-hair  for  making  cloth  among  the  Moors  is  mentioned  by 
RauwolfF,  Travels,  part  ii.  ch.  1,  p.  123  of  Ray's  Translation.  The  herdsmen  on 
the  wide  plains  about  Smyrna  live  in  tents  of  "  black  goats'-hair." — C.  Fellows's 
Discoveries  in  Lycia,  p.  8. 

t  D'Arvieux  and  Thevenot,  ap.  Harmer,  ch.  v.  Obs.  9. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


305 


my  father  had  also  long  contemplated  introducing  there  the 
celebrated  Cashmere  goat,  anticipating  that  the  fulfilment  of 
his  views  would,  in  proving  advantageous  to  himself,  become 
also  of  ultimate  benefit  to  the  colony ;  in  which  expectation,  he 
has  been  encouraged  from  the  results  that  have  attended  the 
importation  of  the  Saxon  breed  of  sheep  into  their  favored  cli- 
mates, the  wools  of  New  South  Wales,  and  in  proportion  to 
their  improvement,  those  also  of  Van  Dieman's  Land  being 
now  eagerly  purchased  by  the  most  intelligent  manufacturers 
in  preference  to  those  of  equal  prices  imported  from  any  part  of 
Europe. 

"  With  this  object  in  view,  he  subsequently,  during  an  agricul- 
tural tour  on  the  Continent,  directed  my  attention  to  the  Cash- 
mere flocks  of  Mons.  Ternaux,  and  in  October  1828,  I  met  this 
distinguished  man  at  his  seat  at  St.  Onen  (Mons.  Ternaux  is 
a  great  shawl  manufacturer  and  a  Peer  of  France,)  where  he 
preserved  the  elite  of  his  herds ;  the  animals  were  a  mixture  of 
various  sizes  and  colors,  from  a  perfect  white  to  brown,  with 
scarcely  any  stamped  features  as  if  belonging  to  one  race  ex- 
clusively ;  they  were  covered  with  long  coarse  hair,  under  which 
so  small  a  quantity  of  soft  short  down  was  concealed,  that  the 
average  produce  of  the  whole  collection  did  not  exceed  three 
ounces  each ;  therefore,  under  these  unfavorable  circumstances, 
ihy  father  deferred  for  a  time  his  intention  of  sending  any  of 
them  to  Australia. 

"  I  was  then  advised  by  the  Yiscomte  Perrault  de  Jotemps, 
to  see  the  stock  of  M.  Polonceau  at  Versailles,  he  having,  by  a 
happily  selected  cross,  succeeded  in  increasing  the  quantity  and 
value  of  the  qualities  of  the  Cashmere  goat  beyond  the  most  san- 
guine anticipations,  and  in  consequence  of  his  enlightened  taste 
for  agricultural  pursuits,  was  also  honored  with  the  directorship 
of  the  model  farm  at  Grignon.  He  became  among  the  first  to 
purchase  a  chosen  selection  of  the  original  importation  of  the 
Cashmere  goat  from  M.  Ternaux,  and  some  time  after  seeing, 
at  one  of  the  estates  of  the  Duchesse  de  Beri,  an  Angora  buck 
with  an  extraordinary  silkiness  of  hair,  having  more  the  char- 
acter of  long  coarse  but  very  soft  down,  he  solicited  permission 
to  try  the  effects  of  a  union  with  this  fine  animal  and  his  own 

39 


306 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


pure  Cashmeres.  The  improvement  even  in  the  first  drop  was 
so  rapid  that  it  induced  him  to  persevere,  and  when  I  first  saw 
his  small  herd  they  were  in  the  third  generation  from  the  males 
produced  solely  by  the  first  cross ;  the  unwillingness  however 
of  M.  Polonceau  to  part  with  any  number  of  them  at  this  pe- 
riod (the  only  alienation  he  has  made  from  the  favorite  products 
of  his  solicitude  being  two  males  and  two  females  to  the  King 
of  Wirtembergy  for  the  sum  of  3400  francs,)  caused  my  father 
again  to  postpone  his  intentions  until  my  return  from  the  Aus- 
tralasian Colonies,  judging  that  M.  Polonceau  would  then  prob- 
ably be  enabled  to  dispose  of  a  sufficient  number,  and  that  the 
constancy  and  properties  of  the  race  would  by  that  time  be 
more  decidedly  determined. 

"  On  my  arrival  in  England  at  the  close  of  1S31,  he  again 
recurred  to  his  favorite  project  of  introducing  these  animals  into 
our  colonies,  for  which  purpose  I  went  to  France  with  the  in- 
tention of  purchasing  a  small  flock  of  M.  Polonceau,  should  I 
find  all  his  expectations  of  the  Cashmere  Angora  breed  verified, 
which  having  perfectly  ascertained,  I  at  length  succeeded  in 
persuading  M.  Polonceau  to  cede  to  me  ten  females  in  kid,  and 
three  males,  and  I  fortunately  was  able  to  convey  the  whole  in 
health  to  London,  with  the  intention  of  proceeding  as  speedily  as 
possible  with  them  to  Port  Jackson,  looking  sanguinely  forward 
not  only  to  their  rapid  increase  but  also  to  crossing  the  common 
goats  of  the  country  with  this  valuable  breed,  in  full  expecta- 
tion that  they  may,  exclusive  of  their  own  pure  down,  become 
thus  the  means  of  forming  a  desirable  addition  to  the  already 
much  prized  importations  from  New  South  Wales  and  Van 
Dieman's  Land.  I  am  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  latter  re- 
sult may  be  accomplished,  as  M.  Polonceau,  who  has  tried  the 
experiment  with  the  native  goat  of  France,  has  obtained  ani- 
mals of  the  second  cross  very  little  inferior  to  the  breed  that  has 
rendered  his  name  so  distinguished.  He  has  also  crossed  the 
common  goat  with  the  pure  Cashmere,  but  only  obtained  so 
tardy  an  amelioration,  that  it  required  eight  or  ten  generations 
to  produce  a  down  simply  equal  to  their  inferior  quantity  and 
quality  when  compared  to  the  produce  of  the  Cashmere  An- 
gora." 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 


307 


Mr.  Polonceau  has  unremittingly  persevered  in  the  improve- 
ment so  immediately  effected,  and  has  proved  during  the  seve- 
ral years  which  have  elapsed  since  the  first  experiment  in  the 
year  1822,  that  an  entire  satisfactory  result  in  the  union  of  the 
most  essential  qualities  of  down,  abundance,  length,  fineness, 
lustre,  and  softness,  was  accomplished  by  the  first  cross,  with- 
out any  return  having  ensued  to  the  individual  characters  of 
either  of  the  primitive  races,  and  in  consequence,  he  has  since 
constantly  propagated  the  produce  of  that  cross  among  them- 
selves, careful  only  of  preserving  animals  entirely  white  and  of 
employing  for  propagation  those  bucks  which  had  the  down  in 
the  greatest  quantity  and  of  the  finest  quality  with  the  smallest 
proportion  of  hair. 

In  1826  ;  the  "  Societie  Royale  et  Centrale  d'Agriculture  de 
Paris'7  acquainted  with  the  interesting  result  of  M.  Polonceau's 
flock,  being  at  that  time  in  the  third  generation,  and  considering 
that  the  down  of  this  new  race  was  more  valuable  than  that 
of  the  East,  and  that  it  was  the  most  beautiful  of  filaceous 
materials  known,  as  it  combines  the  softness  of  Cashmere  with 
the  lustre  of  silk,  awarded  him  their  large  gold  medal  at  their 
session,  4th  April,  1826,  and  nominated  him  a  member  of  their 
society  in  the  following  year. 

In  1827,  at  the  exhibition  of  the  produce  of  National  Indus- 
try, the  jury  appointed  to  judge  the  merits  of  the  objects  ex- 
posed, also  awarded  him  their  medal. 

At  present  the  animals  are  in  the  twelfth  generation,  their 
health  and  vigor,  the  constancy  of  their  qualities,  and  abun- 
dance of  their  down  without  any  degeneration,  prove  that  this 
new  race  may  be  regarded  as  one  entirely  fixed  and  established, 
requiring  solely  the  care  that  is  generally  observed  with  valua- 
ble breeds  ;  that  is  to  say,  a  judicious  choice  of  those  employed 
for  their  reproduction,  and  in  such  a  climate  as  New  South 
Wales  it  may  be  reasonably  expected  that  the  brilliant  qualities 
of  their  down  may  yet  be  improved  as  has  been  so  eminently 
the  case  with  the  wool  of  the  merino  and  Saxon  sheep  imported 
there. 

M.  Polonceau  has  goats  that  have  yielded  as  many  as  thirty 
ounces  of  the  down,  in  one  season,  and  he  states  that  the  whole 


308  ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  GOAT. 

of  his  herd  produce  from  twelve  to  twenty  ounces ;  thus  show- 
ing the  astonishing  advantages  this  new  breed  has  over  the 
uncrossed  Cashmere,  which  never  yield  more  than  four  ounces 
and  seldom  exceed  two  ounces  each. 

This  gentleman  also  states,  that,  the  Cashmere  Angora  goats, 
are  more  robust  and  more  easily  nourished  than  the  common 
goat,  and  that  they  are  less  capricious  and  more  easily  managed 
in  a  flock ;  and  from  the  experience  he  has  already  had,  he 
finds  them  much  more  docile  than  even  sheep.  They  prefer 
the  leaves  of  trees,  as  do  all  other  goats,  but  they  thrive  either 
on  hay  or  straw,  or  green  fodder,  or  in  meadows ;  they  also 
feed  with  equal  facility  on  heaths,  and  on  the  most  abrupt  de- 
clivities, where  the  sheep  would  perish ;  they  do  not  fear  the 
cold,  and  are  allowed  to  remain  all  the  winter  in  open  sheds. 
For  the  first  year  or  two  of  M.  P.'s  experiments  he  thought  it 
prudent  to  give  them  aromatic  herbs,  from  time  to  time,  but 
during  the  last  six  years  he  has  not  found  it  necessary.  He 
knows  not  of  any  particular  disease  to  which  they  are  subject, 
his  flock  never  having  had  any.  M.  P.  arranges  they  should 
kid  in  March,  but  occasionally  he  takes  two  falls  from  those  of 
sufficient  strength  during  the  year. 

The  down  commences  to  grow  in  September,  and  developes 
itself  progressively  until  the  end  of  March,  when  it  ceases  to 
grow  and  detaches  itself,  unless  artificially  removed. 

To  collect  the  down,  he  waits  the  period  when  it  begins  to 
detach  itself,  and  then  the  locks  of  down  which  separate  from 
the  skin  with  little  force  are  taken  off  by  hand ;  the  down  is 
removed  from  the  animals  every  three  or  four  days ;  in  general 
it  first  begins  to  fall  from  the  neck  and  shoulders,  and  in  the 
following  four  or  five  days  from  the  rest  of  the  body  ;  the  col- 
lection is  completed  in  the  space  of  eight  or  ten  days.  Some- 
times the  entire  down  can  be  taken  from  the  animal  at  one 
shearing,  and  almost  in  an  unbroken  fleece,  when  it  begins  to 
loosen.  The  shearing  has  the  advantage  of  preserving  more 
perfectly  the  parallelisms  of  the  individual  filaments,  which 
much  increase  the  facility  of  combing  and  preparing  the  down 
for  manufacturing  purposes. 


CHAPTER  V, 


BEAVERS-WOOL. 

Isidorus  Hispalensis — Claudian — Beckmann — Beavers'-wool — Dispersion  of  Bea- 
vers through  Europe — Fossil  bones  of  Beavers. 

The  passage  quoted  from  Isidore  of  Seville,  in  the  last  chap- 
ter, shows  that  the  ancients  made  a  cloth,  the  woof  of  which 
was  of  Beavers'-wool  {de  fibri  lana),  and  which  was  therefore 
called  Vestis  Fibrina.  By  lana  he  must  have  meant  the 
very  fine  wool,  which,  agreeably  to  the  observation  in  the  last 
paragraph,  grows  under  the  long  hair  of  the  beaver.  Isidore  in 
the  same  Book,  observes,  "  Fibrinum  lana  est  animalium,  quae 
fibros  vocant :  ipsos  et  castores  existimant." 

The  following  Epigram  of  Claudian  seems  intended,  as 
Beckmann  (iv.  p.  223.)  supposes,  to  describe  "a  worn-out 
beaver  dress,  which  had  nothing  more  left  of  that  valuable  fur 
but  the  name." 

ON  A  BEAVER  MANTLE. 

The  shadow  of  its  ancient  name  remains : 
But,  if  no  nap  of  beaver  it  retains, 
A  Beaver  Mantle  it  can  scarce  be  nam'd. 
The  price,  however,  proves  its  claim  :  it  cost 
Six  pounds.    Hence,  though  all  lustre  it  has  lost, 
Yet,  bought  so  dear,  as  beaver  let  it  still  be  fam'd. 

Sidonius  Apollinaris  calls  those  who  used  this  costly  apparel 
castorinati.    Lib.  v.  Epist.  7.  p.  313.  Pern's,  1599,  &to. 

Gerbert,  or  Gilbert,  surnamed  the  Philosopher,  and  afterwards 
Pope  Silvester  II.,  commenting  on  the  qualities  of  a  good 
Bishop  according  to  1  Timothy  iii.  1.,  says  in  reference  to  the 
word  "ornatum :" 

"  Quod  si  juxta  sensum  literae  tantum  respiciamus,  non  aliud,  sacerdotes,  quam 
amictum  quaeremus  clariorem ;  verbi  gratia,  castorinas  quaeremus  et  sericas  ves- 
tes :  et  ille  se  inter  episcopas  credet  esse  altiorem,  qui  vestem  induerit  clariorem. 
Sed  S.  Apostolus  taliter  se  intelligi  non  vult,  quia  non  carne,  &LC."-—De  Informa- 
tione  Episcoporum,  seu  De  Dignitate  Sacerdotali,  in  ed.  Benedict.  Opp.  S. 
Ambrosii,  torn.  ii.  p.  358. 


310  BEAVERS-WOOL. 

"  An  upper  garment  of  this  cloth  was  worn  by  the  Emperor 
Nicephorus  II.  at  his  coronation  in  the  year  936." — Beckmann, 
I  c.  §  31. 

"This  method  of  manufacturing  beavers'-hair,"  observes 
Beckmann,  "  seems  not  to  have  been  known  in  the  time  of 
Pliny  ;  for,  though  he  speaks  much  of  the  castor,  and  mentions 
pellis  fibrina  three  times,  he  says  nothing  in  regard  to  man- 
ufacturing the  hair,  or  to  beaver-fur." 

It  seems  probable,  that  the  Greeks  and  Romans  did  not  use 
cloth  of  beavers'-wool  until  the  4th  century.  In  an  earlier  age 
the  furs  and  drugs  supplied  by  beavers  were  obtained  from  the 
countries  to  the  North  of  the  Euxine  Sea.  But  in  the  period 
now  under  consideration  the  intercourse  of  the  Romans  with  the 
West  of  Europe  would  open  a  much  more  extended  sphere  for 
procuring  the  Vestes  Fibrinee,  since  we  have  traces  of  the  ex- 
istence of  beavers  in  almost  all  parts  of  Europe.  Their  appear- 
ance in  Wales,  Scotland,  Germany,  and  the  North  of  Europe 
generally,  is  attested  by  Giraldus  Cambrensis*. 

Dr.  Patrick  Neill,  in  a  valuable  paper  on  this  subject,t  has 
given  an  account  of  the  bones  of  recent  beavers  found  in  Perth- 
shire and  Berwickshire.  They  have  also  been  found  in  Cam- 
bridgeshire:!:. We  learn  from  the  life  of  Wulstan§,  that  heaver- 
furs,  as  well  as  those  of  sables,  foxes,  and  other  quadrupeds, 
were  used  by  the  Anglo-Saxons  in  very  early  times  for  lining 
their  garments.  Other  modern  authors  speak  of  their  occur- 
rence in  Austria,  Hungary,  and  the  North  of  Italy II .  They 
are  still  found  in  Sweden.^"  Strabo  informs  us,  that  in  his  time 
they  frequented  the  rivers  of  Spain**. 

Buffon  says  {Hist.  Nat.  tome  26.  p.  98.),  "  There  are  bea- 
vers in  Languedoc  in  the  islands  of  the  Rhone,  and  great  num- 


*  Topographia  Hiberniae,  c.  21,  and  Itinerarium  Cambriae,  1.  ii.  c.  3. 
t  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  177-187. 

+  Transactions  of  the  Cambridge  Philosophical  Society,  vol.  i.  part  i.  p.  175. 
§  See  Extracts  in  Henry's  History  of  Britain,  vol.  iv. 

||  Muratori,  Antichita  Italiane,  tomo  ii.  p.  110.    Napoli,  1783.    The  authors, 
cited  by  Muratori,  are  Gervase  of  Tilbury,  and  Mathioli. 
IT  Travels  in  Sweden,  by  Dr.  Thomas  Thomson,  p.  411. 
**  Lib.  iii.  163.  vol.  i.  p.  737,  ed.  Siebenkees. 


BEAVERS-WOOL.  311 

bers  of  them  in  the  North  of  Europe."  "  But  as  human  popu- 
lation extends,"  he  observes,  "  beavers,  like  other  animals,  are 
dispersed,  become  solitary,  fugitive,  or  conceal  themselves  in  the 
ground  :  they  cease  to  unite  in  bands,  to  engage  in  building  or 
other  undertakings." 

'■'We  have  been  unable  to  ascertain,"  says  Cuvier*,  "after  the 
most  scrupulous  comparisons,  if  the  Castors  or  Beavers,  which 
burrow  along  the  Rhone,  the  Danube,  and  the  Weser,  are  dif- 
ferent in  species  from  those  of  North  America,  or  if  they  are 
prevented  from  building  by  the  vicinity  of  man."  The  same 
distinguished  author  in  his  work  on  Fossil  Bones  says,  "  The 
greater  part  of  our  European  rivers  having  formerly  supported 
beavers,  and  some  of  them  doing  so  still,  viz.  the  Gardon  and 
the  Rhone  in  France,  the  Danube  in  Bavaria  and  Austria,  and 
several  small  rivers  in  Westphalia  and  Saxony,  we  cannot  be 
surprised  to  find  their  bones  preserved  in  our  mosses,  or  turba- 
ries." He  then  mentions  instances  of  the  heads  and  teeth  of 
beavers,  in  the  valley  of  the  Somme  in  Pi6ardy,  in  the  valley  of 
Tonnis-stein  near  Andermach,  and  at  Urdingen  on  the  Rhine 
in  Rhenish  Prussiat. 


*  Regno  Animal,  vol.  iii.  p.  65.  of  Griffith's  Translation. 

t  Cuvier,  Ossemens  Fossiles,  tome  v.  partie  lere,  p.  55. ;  partie  2nde,  p.  518. 
See  also  Annales  du  Museum  d'Hist.  Naturelle,  tome  xiv.  p,  47. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CAMELS-WOOL  AND  CAMELS-HAIR. 

Camels' -wool  and  Camels' -hair — Ctesia's  account — Testimony  of  modern  travel- 
lers— Arab  tent  of  Camels' -hair — Fine  cloths  still  made  of  Camels'-wool — The 
use  of  hair  of  various  animals  in  the  manufacture  of  beautiful  stuffs  by  the  ancient 
Mexicans — Hair  used  by  the  Candian  women  in  the  manufacture  of  broidered 
stuffs — Broidered  stuffs  of  the  negresses  of  Senegal — Their  great  beauty. 

We  are  informed  by  Ctesias,  in  a  fragment  of  the  10th  Book 
of  his  Persic  History,  that  there  were  camels  in  a  part  of  Persia, 
whose  hair,  soft  as  Milesian  fleeces,  was  used  to  make  gar- 
ments for  the  priests  and  the  other  potentates*. 

John  the  Baptist  wore  a  garment  of  camels'-hair ;  but  this 
must  be  supposed  to  have  been  coarse.  [Matt.  iii.  4.,  Mark  i. 
6.)t.  This  passage  of  scripture  is  illustrated  by  Harmer  in  the 
following  observation  : 

"  This  hair,  Sir  J.  Chardin  tells  us  (in  his  MS.  note  on  1 
Sam.  xxv.  4.)  is  not  shorn  from  the  camels  like  wool  from 
sheep,  but  they  pull  off  this  woolly  hair,  which  the  camels  are 
disposed  to  cast  off ;  as  many  other  creatures,  it  is  well  known, 
change  their  coats  yearly.  This  hair  is  made  into  cloth  now. 
Chardin  assures  us  the  modern  dervishes  wear  such  garments." 

Campbell,  the  poet,  mentions  a  tent  of  camels'-hair  cloth, 
which  he  saw  at  an  Arab  encampment  between  Oran  and  Mas- 
cara in  the  kingdom  of  Algiers.  It  was  25  feet  in  diameter 
and  very  lofty.    {Letters  from  the  South,  1837,  vol  ii.  p. 

*  Apollonii  Mirabilia  xx.  iElian,  Hist.  An.  xvii.  34.  Ctesiae  Fragmenta,  a 
Biihr,  p.  224. 

t  "  And  the  same  John  had  his  raiment  of  camels'-hair,  and  a  leathern  girdle 
about  his  loins ;  and  his  meat  was  locusts  and  wild  honey." — Matt.  iii.  4,  also  in 
Mark: 

"  And  John  was  clothed  with  camels'-hair,  and  with  a  girdle  of  a  skin  about  his 
loins ;  and  he  did  eat  locusts  and  wild  honey. ' — Mark  i.  6. 
t  Ch.  xi.  Obs.  83.  vol.  iv.  p.  416.  ed.  Clarke. 


CAMELS-WOOL  AND  CAMELS-HAIR. 


313 


212.)  He  also  mentions  (vol.  i.  p.  161.)  that  the  Kabyles  or 
Berbers,  who  live  in  the  vicinity  of  Algiers,  and  are  descended 
from  the  original  occupants  of  the  country,  dwell  in  "  tents  of 
camels'-hair."  We  are  informed  that  the  Chinese  make  car- 
pets of  the  same  material*.  Coverlets  of  goats'  or  camels'-hair 
are  used  by  the  soldiers  in  Turkey  to  sleep  undert.  "  The  Cir- 
cassians, when  marching,  or  on  a  journey,  always  add  to  their 
other  garments  a  cloak  made  from  camel  or  goats'-hair,  with  a 
hood,  which  completely  envelopes  the  whole  person.  It  is  im- 
penetrable by  rain ;  and  it  forms  their  bed  at  night,  and  pro- 
tects them  from  the  scorching  sun  by  day!." 

Fortunatus,  in  his  life  of  St.  Martin  (1.  iv.),  describes  a  gar- 
ment of  such  cloth ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  he  took 
his  description  from  actual  knowledge  of  the  use  of  it,  or  only 
from  the  account  in  Matthew  of  the  dress  of  John  the  Baptist 
already  quoted. 

Camels'-hair  of  annual  growth  would  vary  in  fineness  ac- 
cording to  circumstances,  and  might  be  used  either  for  the 
coarse  raiment  of  prophets  and  dervises,  or  for  the  costly 
shawls,  to  which  Ctesias  alludes.  Fine  wool,  adapted  to  the 
latter  purpose,  might  also  grow,  as  in  the  goat  and  beaver,  be- 
neath the  long  hair  of  the  camel.  It  has  been  doubted 
whether  cloth  so  fine  and  beautiful  as  Ctesias  asserts,  could  pos- 
sibly be  obtained  from  camels.  The  following  accounts  by 
modern  travellers  illustrate  and  justify  the  statement  of  the 
suspected  ancient. 

Marco  Polo,  who  travelled  in  the  13th  century,  in  his  account 
of  the  city  of  Kalaka,  which  was  in  the  province  of  Tangut 
and  subject  to  the  Great  Kahn,  says§,  "  In  this  city  they  manu- 
facture beautiful  camelots,  the  finest  known  in  the  world,  of  the 
hair  of  camels  and  likewise  of  fine  wool."  According  to  Pallas, 
(Travels,  vol.  ii.  §  8.,)  "  From  the  hair  of  the  camel  the  Tartar 
women  in  the  plains  of  the  Crimea  manufacture  a  narrow 

*  China,  its  Costume,  Arts,  Manufactures,  &c.,  by  Bertin :  translated  from 
the  French.    London,  1812,  vol.  iv. 

t  Travels  in  Circassia,  by  Edmund  Spencer,  vol.  i.  p.  202. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  219. 

§  Book  i.  ch.  52.  p.  235.  of  Marsden's  Translation. 

40 


314 


CAMELS'-WOOL  AND  CAMELs'-HAIR. 


cloth,  which  is  used  in  its  natural  color,  and  is  extremely  warm, 
soft,  and  light."  According  to  Prosper  Alpinus,  {Hist  Nat. 
-dEgypth  I-  °-  V-  225.)  the  Egyptians  manufactured  from 
the  hair  of  their  camels  not  only  coarse  cloth  for  their  tents, 
but  other  kinds  so  fine  as  to  be  worn  not  only  by  princes  but 
even  by  the  senators  of  Venice. 

Elphinstone,  in  his  account  of  Cabul  (p.  295. j,  mentions, 
that  "  Oormuck,  a  fine  cloth  made  of  camels'-wool,"  is  among 
the  articles  imported  into  Cabul  from  the  Bokhara  country. 
This  country  lies  North  of  the  Oxus,  and  East  of  the  Southern 
extremity  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  is  probably  the  country,  to 
which  Ctesias  more  especially  referred.  A  still  more  recent  au- 
thority is  that  of  Moorcroft,  who  informs  us,  that  "  Cloth  is  now 
made  from  the  wool  of  the  wild  camels  of  Khoten  in  Chinese 
Tartary,"  and  that  "  at  Astrakhan  a  fine  cloth  is  manufactured 
from  the  wool  of  the  camel  foal  of  the  first  year*." 

*  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  241,  242. 

It  is  customary  in  many  parts  of  the  East,  as  it  was  in  Mexico  in  the  time  of 
Cortes  (See  Part  Third,  Chapter  I.)  to  use  the  hair  of  various  animals  in  em- 
broidering garments.  The  Candian  women  even  embroider  with  their  own  hair, 
as  well  as  that  of  animals,  with  which  they  make  splendid  representations  of 
flowers,  foliage,  &c. :  they  also  insert  the  skins  of  eels  and  serpents. 

According  to  M.  de  Busson,  the  negreeses  of  Senegal,  embroider  the  skins  of 
various  beasts,  representing  figures,  flowers,  and  animals,  in  every  variety  of 
color. 


CD 

Ui 

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CD 

IS 

i 

0 

PART  THIRD, 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GREAT  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE 
IN  INDIA  —  UNRIVALLED  SKILL  OF  THE  INDIAN 
WEAVER. 

Superiority  of  Cotton  for  clothing,  compared  with  linen,  both  in  hot  and  cold  cli- 
mates— Cotton  characteristic  of  India — Account  of  Cotton  by  Herodotus, 
Ctesias,  Theophrastus,  Aristobulus,  Nearchus,  Pomponius  Mela — Use  of  Cot- 
ton in  India — Cotton  known  before  silk  and  called  Carpasus,  Carpasum,  Car- 
basum,  &c. — Cotton  awnings  used  by  the  Romans — Carbasus  applied  to  linen 
— Last  request  of  Tibullus — Muslin  fillet  of  the  vestal  virgin — Linen  sails,  &c. 
called  Carbasa — Valerius  Flaccus  introduces  muslin  among  the  elegancies  in 
the  dress  of  a  Phrygian  from  the  river  Rhyndacus- — Prudentius's  satire  on  prido 
— Apuleius's  testimony — Testimony  of  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  and  Avienus — 
Pliny  and  Julius  Pollux — Their  testimony  considered — Testimony  of  Tertullian 
and  Philostratus— Of  Martianus  Capella — Cotton  paper  mentioned  by  The- 
ophylus  Presbyter — Use  of  Cotton  by  the  Arabians — Cotton  not  common  an- 
ciently in  Europe — Marco  Polo  and  Sir  John  Mandeville's  testimony  of  the 
Cotton  of  India — Forbes's  description  of  the  herbaceous  Cotton  of  Guzerat — 
Testimony  of  Malte  Brun — Beautiful  Cotton  textures  of  the  ancient  Mexicans 
— Testimony  of  the  Abbe  Clavigero — Fishing  nets  made  from  Cotton  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  West  India  Islands,  and  on  the  continent  of  South  Amer- 
ica— Columbus's  testimony — Cotton  used  for  bedding  by  the  Brazilians. 

Among  all  the  materials  which  the  skill  of  man  converts  into 
comfortable  and  elegant  clothing,  that  which  appears  likely  to 
be  the  most  extensively  useful,  though  it  was  the  last  to  be 
generally  diffused,  is  the  beautiful  produce  of  the  cotton-plant. 

The  properties  of  cotton  strongly  recommend  it  for  clothing, 
especially  in  comparison  with  linen,  both  in  hot  and  cold  coun- 
tries. Linen  has,  indeed,  in  some  respects  the  advantage  ;  it 
forms  a  smooth,  firm,  and  beautiful  cloth,  and  is  very  agreeable 
wear  in  temperate  climates ;  but  it  is  less  comfortable  than  cot- 


318 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


in  the  Persian  Gulf,  near  the  Arabian  coast*.  According  to  his 
account  in  the  latter  passage,  "  The  wool-bearing  trees,  which 
grew  abundantly  in  this  island,  had  a  leaf  like  that  of  the  vine, 
but  smaller ;  they  bore  no  fruit,  but  the  capsule  cantaining  the 
wool,  was,  when  closed,  about  the  size  of  a  quince,  when  ripe, 
it  expanded  so  as  to  emit  the  wool,  which  was  woven  into 
cloths,  either  cheap,  or  of  great  value." 

Sprengel  in  his  German  translation  (p.  150.  vol.  ii.)  sup- 
poses the  Broussonetia  Papyrifera  to  be  meant  in  the  former 
passage.  But  he  gives  no  good  reason  for  this  supposition,  and 
he  admits,  that  the  Broussonetia  Papyrifera  grows  in  China, 
not  in  India.  The  expression  of  Theophrastus,  &<nrep  As;^,  which 
he  employs  in  the  latter  passage  (c.  9.  p.  144.  ed.  Schneider), 
clearly  proves,  that  he  is  speaking  of  the  same  plant  in 
both  passages,  and  Sprengel  himself  (p.  164.)  supposes  the 
Gossypium  Arboreum  of  Linnaeus,  the  Cotton  Tree,  to  be 
meant  in  the  latter,  though  not  in  the  former.  The  description 
of  Theophrastus  is  remarkably  exact,  if  we  consider  it  as  ap- 
plying, not  to  the  Cotton  Tree  (Gossypium  Arboreum\bx\l  to 
the  Cotton  Plant  ( G.  Herbaceum),  from  which  the  chief  sup- 
ply of  cotton  for  spinning  and  weaving  into  cloth  has  always 
been  obtained. 

Aristobulus,  one  of  Alexander's  generals,  made  mention  of 
the  cotton-plant  under  the  name  of  the  Wool-bearing  Tree,  and 
stated  that  its  capsule  contained  seeds,  which  were  taken  out,  and 
that  what  remained  was  combed  like  woolf. 

The  testimony  of  Nearchus,  who  was  the  admiral  of  Alexan- 
der, is  also  preserved  to  the  following  effect ;  "  that  there  were 
in  India  trees  bearing,  as  it  were,  flocks  or  bunches  of  wool ; 
that  the  natives  made  linen  garments  of  it,  wearing  a  shirt, 
which  reached  to  the  middle  of  the  leg,  a  sheet  folded  about 
the  shoulders,  and  a  turban  rolled  round  the  head ;  and  that 
the  linen  made  by  them  from  this  substance  was  fine  and 
whiter  than  any  other."    It  is  to  be  observed,  that  Nearchus,  or 


*  See  the  Map, — Plate  vii.  at  the  end  of  Part  iv.  Bochart,  Geogr.  Sacra,  p. 
766.    Cadomi,  1651.    Heeren,  Ideen,  i.  2.  p.  214-219. 
f  Strabo,  L.  xv.  c.  1.  vol.  vi.  p.  43.  ed.  Siebenkees. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


319 


rather  the  two  later  authors  who  quote  him,  viz.  Arrian  and 
Strabo,  use  the  terms  for  linen  in  a  general  sense,  as  including 
all  fine  light  cloths  made  of  vegetable  substances*. 

We  read  in  the  account  of  India  by  Pomponius  Mela  (L.  iii. 
c.  7.),  that  the  woods  produced  wool,  used  by  the  natives  for 
clothing.  He  distinctly  mentions  the  use  of  flax  likewise.  It 
has  been  conjectured,  that  he  may  have  taken  his  account  from 
Nearchus,  or  some  other  Greek  writer,  and  that  he  may  have 
intended  to  speak  only  of  the  use  of  cotton.  But  in  reply  to 
this  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  Pomponius  Mela  here  mentions 
flax  in  opposition  to  cotton,  and  that  his  assertion,  so  understood, 
was  probably  true,  since  we  have  other  evidence  to  show  that 
flax  grows  in  India  as  well  as  cotton.  (See  Part  IV.)  Never- 
theless it  seems  necessary  to  understand  other  authors  of  the 
same  period  as  meaning  cotton  by  the  term  AiW,  or  linum. 
Thus  Dyonisius  Periegetes  (1.  1116),  speaking  of  the  employ- 
ments of  the  Indians,  says,  Ol  Se  which  prob- 
ably meant  "  some  weave  muslins."  In  the  same  manner  we 
must  interpret  the  assertion  of  duintus  Cur  this,  "  Terra  lini 
ferax,  unde  plerisque  sunt  vestes  f  i.  e.,  The  land  produces 
flax,  from  which  the  greater  part  obtain  garments.  Soon  after 
this  Curtius  says  in  terms  more  strictly  proper, 

Corpora  usque  pedes  carbaso  velant,  soleis  pedes,  capita  linteis  vinciunt. 
They  cover  their  bodies  from  head  to  foot  with  carbasus  ;  they  bind  shoes  about 
their  feet,  linen  cloths  about  their  heads. 

Again,  speaking  of  the  dress  of  the  King,  he  says, 

Distincta  sunt  auro  et  purpura  carbasa,  quas  indutus  est.    L.  viii.  9. 
The  carbasa  which  he  wore,  were  spotted  with  purple  and  gold. 

In  like  manner,  Lucan,  describing  the  Indian  nations,  says, 

Who  drink  sweet  juices  from  the  tender  cane, 
With  dyes  of  crocus  stain  their  hair,  and  fix 
With  color'd  gems  the  flowing  carbasus. 

L.  iii.  v.  239. 

Strabo  says,  (L.  xv.  c.  I.  vol  vi.  p.  153.  ed.  Sieb.) 

That  the  Indians  use  white  raiment,  and  fine  white  cloths  and  carpasa. 


*  Arriani  Rer.  Indie,  p.  522.  539.  ed.  Blancardi.  Strabo,  L.  xv.  c.  1.  vol.  vi. 
p.  40.  ed.  Sieb. 


320 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


Also  the  Periplus  of  the  Erythrean  Sea  states,  that  the  re- 
gion about  the  Gulf  of  Barygaza  in  India  was  productive  "  of 
Carpasus  and  of  the  fine  Indian  cloths  made  of  it*."  These 
were  what  we  now  call  India  muslins.  These  muslins  we 
are  informed  by  Dr.  Vincent,  were  imported  into  Egypt,  and 
accordingly  Pacatusf  represents  Antony's  army  as  wearing  cot- 
ton in  that  country. 

The  term  Carbasus,  is  evidently  used  by  the  five  last-cited 
authors  to  signify  cotton ;  for  they  employ  it  in  describing  the 
common  dress  of  the  Indians.  As  the  Greeks  and  Romans  be- 
came acquainted  with  cotton  much  earlier  than  with  silk,  we 
find  that  Carpas,  the  proper  Oriental  name  for  cotton,  was 
also  in  use  among  them  at  a  comparatively  early  period  ;  and 
we  shall  now  endeavor  to  trace  the  progress  of  this  term  from 
India,  Westward.  With  little  variation  it  is  found  in  the  same 
sense  in  the  Sanscrit,  Arabic,  and  Persic  languages!. 

This  word  occurs  once  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  viz.  Esther, 
i.  6.,  and  there  evidently  as  a  foreign  term.  The  hangings, 
used  to  decorate  the  court  of  the  royal  palace  at  Susa  on  occa- 
sion of  the  great  feast  given  by  Ahasuerus,  are  thus  described 
in  the  common  version  of  the  Scriptures  : — 

"Where  were  white,  green,  and  blue  hangings,  fastened  with  cords  of  fine 
linen  and  purple  to  silver  rings  and  pillars  of  marble :  the  beds  were  of  gold  and 
silver  upon  a  pavement  of  red  and  blue  and  white  and  black  marble." 

The  word,  corresponding  to  "green"  in  the  original  is  Carpas 
(dsns).  It  has  been  translated  " green"  by  the  authors  of 
the  common  version  on  the  authority  of  the  Chaldee  Para- 
phrase. 

The  earliest  instance  of  the  use  of  the  oriental  name  in  any 
classical  author  is  the  line  from  Statius  Ceecilius,  who  died  169 
B.  C.  as  quoted  by  Nonius  Marcellus  {I.  xvi.)  from  the  Pau- 
simachus  of  Statius : 


*  Arriani  Opp.  v.  ii.  p.  165.  ed.  Blancard.  t  Paneg.  Theodosii,  c.  33. 

t  Celsii  Hierobot.  vol.  ii.  p.  159.  Sir  W.  Jones,  in  As.  Researches,  vol.  iv.  p. 
226.  London  Edition.  Schlegel,  Indische  Bibliotek,  ii.  p.  393.  E.  F.  K.  Ro- 
senmuller,  Biblische  Alterthumskunde,  4.  1.  p.  173, 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


321 


Carbasina,  molochina,  ampelina*. 

As  these  words  are  all  three  Greek,  and  the  play,  in  which  the 
verse  occurred,  was  also  called  by  a  Greek  name,  we  cannot 
doubt,  that  Statius  translated  it  according  to  his  usual  custom 
from  one  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Comedy.  We  may  there- 
fore infer  with  some  confidence  from  this  expression,  that  the 
Greeks  made  use  of  muslins  or  calicoes,  or  at  least  of  cotton 
cloths  of  some  kind,  which  were  brought  from  India  as  early 
as  200  years  B.  0. 

After  some  time  the  oriental  custom  of  using  cotton  as  a 
protection  from  the  sun's  rays  was  adopted  also  by  the  Romans. 
Cotton  was  not  only  a  cheaper  and  commoner  article  than  silk, 
but  it  was  particularly  adapted  for  this  purpose  on  account  of 
its  lightness,  as  well  as  its  beauty  and  fineness  ;  and,  besides  the 
instance  already  cited  from  the  book  of  Esther,  we  may  ob- 
serve also,  that  where  the  Latin  authors  mention  the  use  of 
"  Carbasa,"  it  is  sometimes  for  purposes  of  this  kind.  "  Taber- 
nacula  carbaseis  intenta  velis,"  i.  e.  "  Tents  with  coverings  of 
cotton,"  were  among  the  expensive  novelties  which  contributed 
to  the  luxury  of  Verres,  when  Praetor  in  Sicily  1*.  The  same 
species  of  ornament  was  first  displayed  at  Rome  in  the  mag- 
nificent aedileship  of  P.  Lentulus  Spinther,  at  the  Apollinarian 
games  and  in  the  year  63  B.  C. 

"  At  a  later  period  awnings  of  linen  were  used  to  keep  out  the  sun,  but  original- 
ly in  the  theatres  only,  which  contrivance  was  first  adopted  by  Q.  Catulus,  when 
he  dedicated  the  capitol.  After  this  Lentulus  Spinther  is  said  to  have  first  intro- 
duced cotton  awnings  in  the  theatre  at  the  Apollinarian  games.  By  and  by 
Caesar  the  Dictator  covered  with  awnings  the  whole  Roman  forum,  and  the  sacred 
way,  from  his  own  house  even  to  the  ascent  of  the  Capitoline  hill,  which  is  said 
to  have  appeared  more  wonderful  than  the  gladiatorial  exhibition  itself.  After- 
wards, without  exhibiting  games,  Marcellus  the  son  of  Octavia,  sister  of  Augustus, 
when  he  was  iEdile  and  his  uncle  consul  the  eleventh  timet,  on  the  day  before 


*  See  C.  C.  Statii  Fragmenta,  a  Leonhardo  Spengel,  Monachii  1829,  p.  35. 

Statius  chiefly  copied  from  Menander  (Gellius  ii.  c.  16.) ;  but  we  cannot  find, 
that  Menander  wrote  any  play  called  Pausimachus. 

t  This  was  about  the  year  70  B.  C.    Cic.  in  Verrem,  Act.  ii.  1.  v.  c.  12. 

X  The  following  are  the  dates  of  the  display  of  awnings  on  the  several  occasions 
referred  to : — 

41 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


the  Kalends  of  August,  protected  the  forum  from  the  rays  of  the  sun,  that  the 
persons  engaged  in  lawsuits  might  stand  with  less  injury  to  their  health.  What 
a  change  from  the  manners  which  prevailed  under  Cato  the  Censor,  who  thought 
that  the  forum  should  even  be  strewed  with  caltrops !  Of  late  sky-blue  awnings, 
spotted  with  stars,  have  been  extended  by  means  of  strong  ropes,  even  in  the  am- 
phitheatre of  the  Emperor  Nero.  Red  awnings  are  used  to  cover  the  atria  of 
houses,  and  they  defend  the  moss  from  the  sun.  As  for  the  rest,  white  linen  has 
always  remained  in  favor.  This  plant  was  honored  in  the  Trojan  war.  For 
why  should  it  not  perforin  its  part  in  battles  as  well  as  in  shipwrecks  ?  Homer 
testifies,  that  a  few  of  his  warriors  fought  in  linen  cuirasses.  The  tackle  of  his 
ships  was  also  of  flax,  according  to  some  of  his  more  learned  interpreters,  who  ar- 
gue that  by  the  term  sparia  he  meant  sata,  or  things  that  are  sown." — Pliny, 
Lib.  xix.  chap.  vi. 

Lucretius  apparently  refers  to  the  introduction  by  Lentulus 
Spinther  of  the  cotton  awnings  above  mentioned  (vi.  108.),  when 
he  is  theorising  on  the  cause  of  thunder,  and  compares  the 
clouds  spread  over  the  sky  to  the  awnings  of  calico,  which 
veiled  the  theatres  and  sheltered  the  spectators  from  the  sun  : 

Carbasus  ut  quondam  magnis  intenta  theatris 
Dat  crepitum,  malos  inter  jactata  trabeisque. 
As  flaps  the  cotton,  spread  above  our  heads 
In  the  vast  theatres  from  mast  to  beam. 

"We  now  find  frequent  mention  of  cotton  by  the  poets  of  the 
Augustan  age  and  by  many  subsequent  writers.  As  in  the 
case  of  silk,  these  authors  introduce  cotton,  not  only  historically, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  embellishment ;  and,  considering  Carba- 
sus as  a  poetical  term,  they  often  by  a  catachresis  employ  it 
where  they  mean  to  speak  of  linen.  Also  as  was  before  ob- 
served in  regard  to  silk  (Part  I.  chapter  II.),  it  may  likewise  be 
noticed  here,  that  the  wars  against  Mithridates  and  the  Par- 
tisans may  have  contributed  to  make  the  Romans  familiar 
with  the  use  of  cotton,  although  their  chief  supply  of  it  was 
more  probably  through  Egypt,  than  through  Persia  and  Baby- 
lonia. 


Linen  awnings  first  used  in  the  theatre  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple 

of  Jupiter  by  Catulus  -       -       -  69  B.  C. 

Cotton  awnings  first  used  in  the  theatre  by  Lentulus  Spinther,  July  6th,  63  B.  C. 

Linen  used  to  cover  the  forum  and  Via  Sacra  at  the  gladiatorial  show 

by  Julius  Ceesar       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -  46  B.  C 

Linen  awnings  extended  over  the  forum  by  Marcellus,  July  31st       -  23  B.  C. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


Catullus  (64.),  speaking  of  the  black  sail  which  iEgeus  fur- 
nished for  the  ships  of  his  son  Theseus,  calls  it  "  Carbasus 
Ibera"  "  an  Iberian  sail."  As,  on  the  one  hand,  he  here  uses 
the  proper  term  for  cotton,  without  intending  to  describe  the  sail 
as  cotton,  so  on  the  other  hand  he  calls  the  sail  Iberian  merely 
because  Iberia  was  a  country  adjoining  Colchis,  and  from  Col- 
chis (as  will  be  shown  in  Part  IV.)  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
obtained  a  great  supply  of  flax  and  sail-cloth. 

Tibullus,  or  Lygdamus,  entreats  (iii.  2.  17.),  in  the  contem- 
plation of  his  death  and  funeral,  that  after  his  bones  have  been 
washed,  first  with  wine,  and  then  with  milk,  they  may  be  dried 
"  carbaseis  velis,"  with  linen  napkins.  Although  he  uses  the 
proper  term  for  cotton,  he  probably  did  not  intend  to  denote  any 
preference  for  cotton  rather  than  linen.  His  bones,  after  being 
wiped,  were  to  be  deposited  in  a  marble  urn. 

Propertius  seems  to  have  aimed  at  a  display  of  knowledge  on 
these  subjects  (see  Part  First,  chapter  II.) ;  and  in  the  follow- 
ing passage  (iv.  3.)  he  probably  used  Carbasa  in  its  proper 
sense,  as  he  is  referring  to  Eastern  habits : 

Raptave  odorata  carbasa  lina  duci. 

Muslins  taken  among  the  spoils  from  a  scented  general 

In  the  last  Elegy  of  the  same  Book  he  refers  to  the  story  of 
the  young  Vestal  virgin,  who,  when  the  flame  was  extinguished 
upon  the  altar  committed  to  her  care,  and  when  the  scourge 
appeared  to  await  her  for  her  neglect,  threw  upon  the  ashes  a 
fillet  of  muslin  from  her  head,  and  saved  her  life  by  its  ignition, 
which  was  supposed  to  be  effected  by  the  favor  of  the  goddess : 

Vel  cui,  commissos  cum  Vesta  reposceret  ignes, 
Exhibuit  vivos  carbasus  alba  focos. 
The  fire  had  died,  and  Vesta  urged  her  claim, 
When  the  white  cotton  show'd  a  living  flame. 

The  story  is  related  by  Valerius  Maximus  (i.  7.).  Although 
vve  are  not  informed  of  the  date  of  the  event,  it  appears  from 
his  language  that  the  fillet  was  of  fine  muslin :  "  Cum  carba- 
sum,  quam  optimam  habebat,  foculo  imposuisset,  subito  ignis 
emicuit."  This  description  is  well  suited  to  the  nature  of  cot- 
ton, than  which  nothing  was  more  easily  ignited. 

The  passage  in  Virgil's  Georgics,  which  mentions  cotton,  has 


324 


THE   COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


been  already  quoted  (See  Part  I.  chapter  II.  p.  24.).  By  the 
^Ethiopians,  whose  groves  were  "  white  with  soft  wool,"  he 
probably  intended  those  of  Arabia ;  and  we  may  suppose  him  to 
have  referred  to  accounts,  not  so  much  of  the  Gossypium  Her- 
baceum,  to  which  the  word  u  groves"  (jiemora)  would  not  apply, 
as  to  groves  of  Gossypium  Arboreum  and  Bombyx  Ceiba.  In 
the  following  passages  of  iEneid  he  mentions  cotton  under  its 
proper  name,  though  probably  not  intending  to  distinguish  ac- 
curately between  cotton  and  linen,  and  only  using  the  term  for 
the  sake  of  ornament : — 

Jamque  dies,  alterque  dies  processit,  et  aurse 
Vela  vocunt,  tumidoque  inflatur  carbasus  austro.    iii.  356. 
Two  days  were  past,  and  now  the  southern  gales 
Call  us  aboard,  and  stretch  the  swelling  sails. 

Pitt's  Translation. 
Vocat  jam  carbasus  auras ; 
Puppibus  et  leeti  nautas  imposuere  coronas,    iv.  417. 
The  flapping  sail  invites  the  gales  ;  the  poops 
By  the  glad  seamen  are  already  crown'd. 

Eum  (Jluvium  Tiberim)  tenuis  glauco  velabat  amictu 
Carbasus,  et  crines  umbrosa  tegebat  arundo.    viii.  33. 
Thin  muslin  veils  him  with  its  sea-green  folds ; 
His  head  a  copious  shade  of  reeds  sustains. 

Turn  croceam  chlamydem,  sinusque  erepantes 
Carbaseos  fulvo  in  nodum  collegerat  auro.    xi.  775. 
His  saffron  chlamys,  and  each  rustling  fold 
Of  muslin  was  confined  with  glittering  gold. 

This  last  passage  is  part  of  the  description  of  the  attire  of 
Chloreus,  the  Phrygian,  whose  muslin  chlamys  may  have  rus- 
tled in  consequence  of  being  interwoven  with  gold. 

OVID. 
Totaque  malo 

Carbasa  deducit,  venientesque  excipit  auras. — Met.  xi.  477. 

The  active  seamen  now  unfurl  the  sails, 

And  spread  them  wide  to  catch  the  coming  gales. 

Carbasa  mota  sonant,  jubet  uti  navita  ventis.    xiii.  420. 
The  flapping  sails  resound ;  the  captain  bids  advance. 
Cum  dabit  aura  viam,  praebebis  carbasa  ventis. — Epist.  vii.  171. 
When  the  gale  favors,  give  the  wind  your  sails. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


325 


Sed  non,  quo  dederas  a  litore  carbasa,  vento 

Utendum,  medio  cum  potiare  freto. — Art.  Am.  ii.  357. 
The  wind  to  which  you  give  your  sails  on  shore, 
In  the  mid  ocean  will  assist  no  more. 

Dumque  parant  torto  subducere  carbasa  lino. — Fast.  iii.  587. 
They  now  with  twisted  ropes  let  down  the  sails. 

In  all  these  passages  Ovid  uses  carbasa  in  the  improper  sense : 
it  was  an  easy  transition  from  the  idea  of  a  cotton  awning, 
with  which  the  Romans  had  become  familiar,  to  apply  the 
term  to  the  sail  of  a  ship.  To  these  examples  we  may  add  the 
following : 

Et  sequitur  curvus  fugienta  carbasa  delphin. 

Seneca,  (Ed.  ii.  prope  fin. 
The  dolphin  curved  pursues  the  flying  sails. 
Strictaque  pendentes  deducunt  carbasa  nautae. — Lucan,  ii.  697. 
The  mariners  confine  the  sails  with  cords, 
And,  clinging  to  the  mast,  they  take  them  down. 

Recto  deprendit  carbasa  malo.    ix.  324. 

The  mast  stands  upright ;  he  takes  down  the  sails. 

Jamque  adeo  egressi  steterant  in  littore  primo, 
Et  promota,  ratis  pendentibus  arbore  nautis, 
Aptabant  sensim  pulsanti  carbasa  vento. 

Silius  It  aliens.  Pun.  iii.  128. 

They  leave  the  port  and  reach  the  shore :  aloft 

They  hang  upon  the  mast,  and  by  degrees 

They  fit  the  sails  to  catch  the  beating  wind. 

Festinant  trepidi  substringere  carbasa  nautae. 

Martial,  I.  xii.  ep.  29. 
The  trembling  seamen  haste  to  reef  their  sails. 
Prima?,  carbasa  ventilantis,  aurae. — Statins,  Sylv.  iv.  3.  106. 
Of  the  first  gale,  which  breathes  upon  the  sails. 

Statius  also  mentions  "  Carbasei  sinus,"  the  folds  of  cotton  in 
the  chlamys  of  a  Bacchanal  (Theb.  vii.  658.). 

jEstivos  penetrent  oneraria  carbasa  fluctus. — Rutilius,  i.  221. 
Postquam  tua  carbasa  vexit — Oceanus. — Val.  Flaccus,  i. 
Necdum  aliae  viderunt  carbasa  terrae. — Ibid. 

Valerius  Flaccus  also  introduces  muslin  among  the  elegan- 
ces in  the  dress  of  a  Phrygian  from  the  river  Rhyndacus. 


326 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


Tenuai  non  ilium  candentis  carbasa  lini, 
Non  auro  depicta  chlamys,  non  flava  galeri 
Caesaries,  pictoque  juvant  subtemine  braccae.  vi.  228. 

No  aid  to  him  his  chalmys  white  as  snow, 
Muslin  with  gold  enrich'd,  his  yellow  curls 
Of  artificial  hair,  and  figured  pantaloons. 

(See  Part  1,  chap.  iii.  p.  59.) 

Also  PrudentiuSj  the  Christian  poet  (See  Part  1,  chap.  iii.  p. 
59.),  in  an  elaborate  account  of  Pride,  depicts  her  in  a  garment 
of  the  same  kind  : 

Carbasea  ex  humeris  summo  collecta  coibat 

Palla  sinu,  teretem  nectens  a  pectore  nodum. — Psychom.  186. 

A  muslin  kerchief  by  a  knot  compress'd, 
Pass'd  o'er  her  shoulders,  and  adorn'd  her  breast. 

Tantct  tamque  multiplici  fertilitate  abundat  rerum  omnium  Cyprus,  ut  nullius 
externi  indigens  adminiculi,  indigenis  viribus,  a  fundamento  ipso  carinas  ad  supre- 
mos usque  carbasos  aedificet  onerarium  navem,  omnibusque  armamentis  instructam 
mari  committat. — Amm.  Marcellinus,  xiv.  8. 

Apuleius  mentions  carbasina  in  conjunction  with  bombycina 
and  other  kinds  of  cloth*.  He  may  consequently  be  presumed 
to  use  the  word  in  its  proper  sense,  to  wit,  as  denoting  calico  or 
muslin.  In  the  same  manner  cotton  is  distinguished  from  silk 
by  Sidonius  Apollinarisf.  Also  we  may  presume  that  cotton 
and  not  linen  sails  are  to  be  understood  in  the  following  line  of 
Avienus : 

Si  tamen  in  Boream  flectantur  carbasa  cymbae. 

Descr.  Orbis,  799. 

Here  the  writer  not  only  professes  to  give  geographical  informa- 
tion, but  he  is  describing  the  Indian  seas  and  islands ;  and  as 
in  the  present  day,  so  also  in  ancient  times,  the  sails  used  in  the 
navigation  of  those  seas  were  probably  made  of  cotton. 

Strabo  uses  the  word  Ka^advai  in  describing  the  official  dress  of 
a  certain  class  of  priestesses  among  the  CimbriJ.    Although  it 


*  Metamorphoseon  1.  viii.  p.  579,  580.  ed.  Oudendorpii.  (Quoted  in  Part 
First,  Chapter  ii.  p.  35.) 

t  L.  ii.  Epist.  2.    (Quoted  in  Part  First,  Chapter  iii.  p.  61.). 
X  L.  vii.  cap.  2.  §  3.  p.  336.  ed.  Siebenkees. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


327 


is  possible,  that  muslin  may  have  been  conveyed  to  them  to  be 
used  on  solemn  occasions,  it  appears  more  probable  that  fine 
linen  or  cambric,  which  was  manufactured  at  no  great  distance 
among  the  Atrebates,  ought  here  to  be  understood. 

Pliny  mentions  cotton  in  four  different  passages  of  his  Nat- 
ural History.  Two  of  them  are  translated  with  some  inaccu- 
racies from  the  passages  of  Theophrastus.  To  his  translation 
of  one  of  these  passages  Pliny  annexes  the  remark,  derived 
perhaps  from  some  other  source,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Tylos 
called  their  Cotton  Trees  gossympins,  and  that  an  island 
which  was  called  the  smaller  Tylos,  distant  ten  miles,  was  still 
more  fertile  in  cotton  than  the  larger  island  of  the  same  name.- 

The  third  passage  introduces  cotton  under  its  proper  name, 
Carbasa.  It  would  imply  that  cotton  was  first  grown  or  man- 
ufactured at  Tarraco  in  Spain,  than  which  assertion  nothing 
can  be  more  inaccurate  and  groundless. 

The  fourth  passage  is  also  contrary  to  all  previous  evidence, 
inasmuch  as  it  represents  cotton  to  be  the  native  growth  of 
Egypt  It  calls  the  Cotton  Plant  gossypion,  and  hence  the 
name  has  been  given  to  it  by  modern  botanists.  Supposing 
this  last  passage  to  be  genuine,  still  we  know  not  on  what  au- 
thority Pliny  depended,  or  from  what  source  he  derived  his  in- 
formation, nor  can  we  tell  to  what  extent  he  allowed  himself  to 
be  inaccurate  in  transcribing  or  translating.  Taken  by  itself, 
therefore,  it  appears  to  us  that  this  passage  is  no  better  proof  of 
the  growth  of  cotton  anciently  in  Egypt  than  the  third  passage 
is  of  its  first  discovery  in  Spain. 

In  Upper  Egypt,  towards  Arabia,  there  grows  a  shrub,  which  some  call  gos- 
ST/pium,  and  others  xylon,  from  which  the  stuffs  are  made  which  we  call  xylina. 
It  is  small,  and  bears  a  fruit  resembling  the  filbert,  within  which  is  a  downy  wool, 
which  is  spun  into  thread.  There  is  nothing  to  be  preferred  to  these  stuffs  for 
whiteness  or  softness :  beautiful  garments  are  made  from  them  for  the  priests  of 
Egypt.* 

This  passage  seems  however  deserving  of  more  consideration, 
when  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  following  from  the  Ono- 
masticon  of  Julius  Pollux,  who  wrote  100  years  later  than 
Pliny : — 


*  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xix.  c.  1.  (Delph.  Ed.  c.  2.) 


328 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


There  are  also  Byssina  ;  and  Byssus,  a  kind  of  flax.  But  among  the  Indians, 
and  now  also  among  the  Egyptians,  a  sort  of  wool  is  obtained  from  a  tree.  The 
cloth  made  from  this  wool  may  be  compared  to  linen,  except  that  it  is  thicker. 
The  tree  produces  a  fruit  most  nearly  resembling  a  walnut,  but  three-cleft. 
After  the  outer  covering,  which  is  like  a  walnut,  has  divided  and  become  dry,  the 
substance  resembling  wool  is  extracted  and  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  cloth 
for  woof,  the  warp  being  linen. 

The  description  here  given  of  the  Cotton  Tree  or  Cotton 
Plant,  whichever  was  meant,  is  remarkably  correct ;  indeed 
more  correct  than  any  account  obtained  since  the  time  of  the 
expedition  of  Alexander.  The  circumstance  of  the  pericarp 
being  three-cleft  is  agreeable  to  the  fact,  and  is  not  noticed  by 
any  earlier  writer.  The  comparison  of  it  to  a  walnut  in  re- 
gard to  size  and  form  is  also  accurate.  From  this  account,  and 
from  those  of  Theophrastus,  Aristobulus,  and  Nearchus,  we 
gather  the  following  particulars,  which  are  agreeable  to  the 
fact :  that  the  cotton-plants  are  set  in  the  plains,  and  in  rows 
like  vines;  that  the  plant  is  three  or  four  feet  high,  and  is 
branched,  spreading,  and  flexible,  like  a  dog-rose ;  that  the  leaf 
is  palmated  like  that  of  the  vine  ;  that  the  capsule  is  three- 
valved,  about  the  size  of  a  walnut,  and,  when  it  bursts,  emits  the 
cotton,  resembling  flocks  of  wool,  in  which  the  seeds  are  imbedded. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  had  no  previous  evidence  re- 
specting the  use  of  cotton  in  the  manufacture  of  cloth  for  the 
woof  only,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  piece  of  information 
is  correct,  because  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  cotton 
was  used  for  weaving  in  any  country  in  which  flax  was  also 
spun  and  woven. 

Tertullian  in  the  third  Chapter  of  his  treatise  De  Pallio, 
enumerates  nearly  all  the  raw  materials  which  were  spun  for 
weaving.  He  mentions  the  class  of  vegetable  substances  (cot- 
ton and  flax)  in  the  following  terms  : 

Et  arbusta  vestiunt,  et  lini  herbida  post  virorem  lavacro  nivescunt. 
Both  thickets  supply  clothing  ;  and  crops  of  flax,  after  being  green,  are  ren- 
dered by  washing  white  as  snow. 

Philostratus,  who  wrote  in  the  third  century,  makes  distinct 
mention  of  cotton  in  two  passages*. 


*  Vita  Appollonii,  I.  ii.  cap.  20.    Ibid.  I.  iii.  cap.  15. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


329 


Martianus  Capella  (I.  ii.  §  4.  p.  99.  ed.  Goetz.)  makes  dis- 
tinct reference  to  a  tunic  and  shawl  white  as  milk,  and  made 
either  of  cotton  or  fine  linen. 

Theophilus  Presbyter,  who  wrote  probably  about  A.  D.  800, 
describes  the  use  of  cotton-paper  for  making  gold-leaf.  He 
calls  it  "  Greek  parchment,  made  of  tree-wool,  Pergamena,  or 
Parcamena  Grceca,  quce  Jit  ex  land  ligni*. 

From  the  travels  of  the  two  Arabians  who  visited  China  in 
the  ninth  century,  we  learn  that  at  that  time  the  ordinary  dress 
of  their  countrymen  was  cotton :  for  they  remark,  that  "  the 
Chinese  dressed,  not  in  cotton, ,  as  the  Arabians  did,  but  in 
silkt."  Probably  the  use  of  imported  cotton  might  by  this  time 
have  become  not  uncommon  in  Egypt,  Syria,  and  other  oriental 
countries ;  but  we  apprehend,  that  it  was  never  generally  em- 
ployed in  Europe  either  for  clothing,  or  for  any  other  purpose, 
until  very  lately. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  further  discuss  the  question  as  to  wheth- 
er cotton  was  or  was  not  cultivated  in  Egypt  in  ancient  times. 
This  vexed  question  having  been  lately  set  at  rest,  by  a  discov- 
ery which  reduces  a  great  deal  of  the  learning  that  has  been 
expended  upon  it  to  the  character  of  old  lumber.  The  diffi- 
culty of  ascertaining  whether  the  mummy-cloths  (of  which  the 
specimens  are  exceedingly  numerous)  were  made  of  linen  or 
cotton,  has  at  length  been  overcome ;  and  though  no  chemical 
test  could  be  found  out  to  settle  the  question,  it  has  been  deci- 
ded by  that  important  aid  to  scientific  scrutiny,  the  microscope. 
(See  Chapters  I.  and  II.  Part  IV.) 

The  following  observations  of  Dr.  Robertson  in  his  "  Histor- 
ical Disquisition  concerning  the  knowledge  which  the  Ancients 
had  of  India!,"  appear  very  just  and  important. 

If  the  use  of  the  cotton  manufactures  of  India  had  been  common  among  the 
Romans,  the  various  kinds  of  them  would  have  been  enumerated  in  the  Law  De 
Publicanis  et  Vectigalibus,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  different  kinds  of  spices  and 

*  De  Omni  Scientia  Picturae  Artis,  c.  21.  quoted  in  Lessing's  Schriften,  vol.  iv. 
p.  63.  ed.  1825,  12mo.,  and  in  Wehr's  vom  Papier,  p.  132.    (See  Appendix  B ) 

t  See  the  Travels  as  published  by  Renaudot,  and  translated  from  his  French 
into  English. 

I  Note  xxv.  p.  370.    Second  ed.  1794. 

42 


330 


THE   COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


precbus  stones.  Such  a  specification  would  have  been  equally  necessary  for  the 
direction  both  of  the  merchant  and  of  the  tax-gatherer. 

In  confirmation  of  these  remarks  it  may  be  observed,  that  the 
passages  collected  in  this  chapter  represent  cotton  cloth  as  an 
expensive  and  curious  production  rather  than  as  an  article  of 
common  use  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Among  the  an- 
cients linen  must  have  been  far  cheaper  than  cotton,  whereas 
the  improvements  in  navigation,  the  discovery  of  the  passage 
to  India  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  still  more  the  discovery 
of  America,  have  now  made  cotton  the  cheaper  article  among 
us,  and  have  thus  brought  it  into  general  use. 

India  produces  several  varieties  of  cotton,  both  of  the  herba- 
ceous and  the  tree  kinds.  Marco  Polo  mentions  that  "  cotton 
is  produced  in  Guzerat  in  large  quantities  from  a  tree  that  is 
about  six  yards  in  height,  and  bears  during  twenty  years ;  but 
the  cotton  taken  from  trees  of  this  age  is  not  adapted  for  spin- 
ning, but  only  quilting.  Such,  on  the  contrary,  as  is  taken 
from  trees  of  twelve  years  old,  is  suitable  for  muslins  and  other 
manufactures  of  extraordinary  fineness*."  Sir  John  Mande- 
ville,  on  the  other  hand,  who  travelled  in  the  fourteenth  centu- 
ry, fifty  years  later  than  Polo,  mentions  the  annual  herbaceous 
cotton  as  cultivated  in  India  :  he  says — "  In  many  places  the 
seed  of  the  cotton,  (cothon,)  which  we  call  tree-wool,  is  sown 
every  year,  and  there  springs  up  from  its  copses  of  low  shrubs, 
on  which  this  wool  growst."  Forbes  also,  in  his  Oriental  Me- 
moirs, thus  describes  the  herbaceous  cotton  of  Guzerat : — "  The 
cotton  shrub,  which  grows  to  the  height  of  three  or  four  feet, 
and  in  verdure  resembles  the  currant  bush,  requires  a  longer 
time  than  rice  (which  grows  up  and  is  reaped  in  three  months) 
to  bring  its  delicate  produce  to  perfection.  The  shrubs  are 
planted  between  the  rows  of  rice,  but  do  not  impede  its  growth, 
or  prevent  its  being  reaped.  Soon  after  the  rice  harvest  is  over, 
the  cotton  bushes  put  forth  a  beautiful  yellow  flower,  with  a 
crimson  eye  in  each  petal ;  this  is  succeeded  by  a  green  pod, 
filled  with  a  white  stringy  pulp  ;  the  pod  turns  brown  and 
hard  as  it  ripens,  and  then  separates  into  two  or  three  divisions 


*  Book  iii.  chap.  29. 


t  Hakluyt's  Voyages,  vol.  ii.  p.  169. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE.  331 

containing  the  cotton.  A  luxuriant  field,  exhibiting  at  the 
same  time  the  expanding  blossom,  the  bursting  capsule,  and 
the  snowy  flakes  of  ripe  cotton,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  ob- 
jects in  the  agriculture  of  Hindostan*." 

The  following  general  statement  concerning  the  cotton  of 
India,  is  from  the  geographical  work  of  Malte  Brun : — "  The 
cotton-tree  grows  on  all  the  Indian  mountains,  but  its  produce 
is  coarse  in  quality  :  the  herbaceous  cotton  prospers  chiefly  in 
Bengal  and  on  the  Coromandel  coast,  and  there  the  best  cotton 
goods  are  manufactured.  Next  to  these  two  provinces,  Madure, 
Marawar,  Pescaria,  and  the  coast  of  Malabar,  produce  the  finest 
cottonf."  He  elsewhere  says—"  Cotton  is  cultivated  in  every 
part  of  India :  the  finest  grows  in  the  light  rocky  soil  of  Guze- 
rat,  Bengal,  Oude,  and  Agra.  The  cultivation  of  this  plant  is 
very  lucrative,  an  acre  producing  about  nine  quintals  of  cotton 
in  the  yeart" 

On  the  discovery  of  this  continent  by  Columbus,  Cotton 
formed  the  principal  article  of  clothing  among  the  Mexicans. 

We  are  informed  by  the  Abbe  Clavigero  that  "  of  cotton  the 
Mexicans  made  large  webs,  and  as  delicate  and  fine  as  those 
of  Holland,  which  were,  with  much  reason,  highly  esteemed  in 
Europe.  They  wove  their  cloths  of  different  figures  and 
colors,  representing  different  animals  and  flowers.  Of  feath- 
ers interwoven  with  cotton,  they  made  mantles  and  bed-cur- 
tains, carpets,  gowns,  and  other  things,  not  less  soft  than 
beautiful.  With  cotton  also  they  interwove  the  finest  hair  of 
the  belly  of  rabbits  and  hares,  after  having  spun  it  into 
thread :  of  this  they  made  most  beautiful  cloths,  and  in  par- 
ticular winter  waistcoats  for  their  lords§."  Among  the  pres- 
ents sent  by  Cortes,  the  conqueror  of  Mexico,  to  Charles  V., 
were  "  cotton  mantles,  some  all  white,  others  mixed  with  white 
and  black,  or  red,  green,  yellow,  and  blue ;  waistcoats,  handker- 
chiefs, counterpanes,  tapestries,  and  carpets  of  cotton ;  and  the 


*  Forbes's  Oriental  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.  p.  405. 

t  Malte  Brun,  vol.  iii.  p.  30.  t  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  303. 

§  Clavigero's  History  of  Mexico,  book  vii.  sect.  57,  66. 


332 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


colors  of  the  cotton  were  extremely  fine*."  That  the  Mexicans 
should  have  understood  the  art  of  dyeing  those  beautiful  colors 
referred  to  in  the  above  extract,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when 
we  consider  that  they  had  both  indigo  and  cochineal  among 
their  native  productions. 

Columbus  also  found  the  cotton  plant  growing  wild,  and  in 
great  abundance,  in  Hispaniola,  and  other  West  India  islands, 
and  on  the  continent  of  South  America,  where  the  inhabitants 
wore  cotton  dresses,  and  made  their  fishing  nets  of  the  same 
materialt ;  and  when  Magellan  went  on  his  circumnavigation 
of  the  globe,  in  1519,  the  Brazilians  were  accustomed  to  make 
their  beds  of  this  vegetable  downt. 

*  Clavigero's  History  of  Mexico,  book  vii.  sect.  58. 

t  Sommario  dell'  Indie  Occidentali  del  S.  Don  Pietro  Martire,  in  Ramusio's 
Collection,  torn.  ii.  pp.  2,  4,  16,  50.    (See  Appendix  D.) 

t  Vincentino's  Viaggio  atorno  il  Mondo,  (with  Ferd.  Magellan,)  in  Ramusio, 
torn.  i.  p.  353. 


CHAPTER  II. 


SPINNING  AND  WEAVING— MARVELLOUS  SKILL 
DISPLAYED  IN  THESE  ARTS. 

Unrivalled  excellence  of  India  muslins— Testimony  of  the  two  Arabian  travellers 
— Marco  Polo,  and  Odoardo  Barbosa's  accounts  of  the  beautiful  Cotton  tex- 
tures of  Bengal — Caesar  Frederick,  Tavernier,  and  Forbes's  testimony — Extra- 
ordinary fineness  and  transparency  of  Dacca  muslins — Specimen  brought  by  Sir 
Charles  Wilkins  ;  compared  with  English  muslins — Sir  Joseph  Banks's  experi- 
ments— Extraordinary  fineness  of  Cotton  yarn  spun  by  machinery  in  England — 
Fineness  of  India  Cotton  yarn — Cotton  textures  of  Soonergong — Testimony  of 
R.  Fitch — Hamilton's  account — Decline  of  the  manufactures  of  Dacca  ac- 
counted for — Orme's  testimony  of  the  universal  diffusion  of  the  Cotton  manu- 
facture in  India — Processes  of  the  manufacture — Rude  implements — Roller  gin 
— Bowing.  (Eli  Whitney  inventor  of  the  Cotton  gin — Tribute  of  respect  paid 
to  his  memory — Immense  value  of  Mr.  Whitney's  invention  to  growers  and  man- 
ufacturers of  Cotton  throughout  the  world.)  Spinning  wheel — Spinning  without 
a  wheel — Loom — Mode  of  weaving — Forbes's  description — Habits  and  remuner- 
ation of  Spinners,  Weavers,  &c. — Factories  of  the  East  India  Company — Mar- 
vellous skill  of  the  Indian  workman  accounted  for — Mills's  testimony — Principal 
Cotton  fabrics  of  India,  and  where  made — Indian  commerce  in  Cotton  goods — 
Alarm  created  in  the  woollen  and  silk  manufacturing  districts  of  Great  Britain 
— Extracts  from  publications  of  the  day — Testimony  of  Daniel  De  Foe  (Au- 
thor of  Robinson  Crusoe.) — Indian  fabrics  prohibited  in  England,  and  most 
other  countries  of  Europe — Petition  from  Calcutta  merchants — Present  con- 
dition of  the  City  of  Dacca — Mode  of  spinning  fine  yarns — Tables  showing 
the  comparative  prices  of  Dacca  and  British  manufactured  goods  of  the  same 
quality. 

The  antiquity  of  the  cotton  manufacture  in  India  having 
been  noticed  in  the  last  chapter,  the  present  one  will  give  some 
account  of  the  remarkable  excellence  of  the  Indian  fabrics, — 
the  processes  and  machines  by  which  they  are  wrought, — the 
condition  of  the  population  engaged  in  this  department  of  in- 
dustry,- the  extensive  commerce  formerly  carried  on  in  these 
productions  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  the  causes  that 
have  tended  to  destroy  it. 

The  Indians  have  in  all  ages  maintained  an  unapproached 


334  ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 

and  almost  incredible  perfection  in  their  fabrics  of  cotton.  In- 
deed some  of  their  muslins  might  be  thought  the  work  of 
fairies  or  insects,  rather  than  of  men  ;  but  these  are  produced  in 
small  quantities,  and  have  seldom  been  exported.  In  the  same 
province  from  which  the  ancient  Greeks  obtained  the  finest 
muslins  then  known,  namely,  the  province  of  Bengal,  these 
astonishing  fabrics  are  manufactured  to  the  present  day*. 

We  learn  from  two  Arabian  travellers  of  the  ninth  century, 
that  "  in  this  country  (India)  they  make  garments  of  such  ex- 
traordinary perfection,  that  nowhere  else  are  the  like  to  be  seen. 
These  garments  are  for  the  most  part  round,  and  wove  to  that 
degree  of  fineness  that  they  may  be  drawn  through  a  ring  of 
moderate  sizet."  Marco  Polo,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  men- 
tions the  coast  of  Coromandel,  and  especially  Masulipatam,  as 
producing  "  the  finest  and  most  beautiful  cottons  that  are  to  be 
found  in  any  part  of  the  world* and  this  is  still  the  case  as  to 
the  flowered  and  glazed  cottons,  called  chintzes,  though  the 
muslins  of  the  Coromandel  coast  are  inferior  to  those  of  Bengal. 

Odoardo  Barbosa,  one  of  the  Portuguese  adventurers  who 
visited  India  immediately  after  the  discovery  of  the  passage  by 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  celebrates  "  the  great  quantities  of  cot- 
ton cloths  admirably  painted,  also  some  white  and  some  striped, 
held  in  the  highest  estimation,"  which  were  made  in  Bengali 
Caesar  Frederick,  a  Venetian  merchant,  who  travelled  in  India 
in  1563,  and  whose  narrative  is  translated  by  Hakluyt,  de- 
scribes the  extensive  traffic  carried  on  between  St.  Thome  (a  port 
150  miles  from  Negapatam)  and  Pegu,  in  "  bumbast  (cotton) 
cloth  of  every  sort,  painted,  which  is  a  rare  thing,  because  this 
kind  of  cloths  show  as  if  they  were  gilded  with  divers  colors, 
and  the  more  they  are  washed,  the  livelier  the  colors  will  be- 
come ;  and  there  is  made  such  account  of  this  kind  of  cloth, 
that  a  small  bale  of  it  will  cost  1000  or  2000  ducatsll." 


*  Bains's  "  History  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture,"  p.  55. 

t  Anciennes  Relations  des  Indes  et  de  la  Chine,  de  duex  Voyageurs  Mahome- 
tans, qui  y  allerent  dans  le  neuvieme  siecle,  p.  21. 
%  Travels  of  Marco  Polo,  book  iii.  c.  21,  28. 

§  Ramusio's  "  Raccolto  delle  Navigationi  et  Viaggi,"  torn.  i.  p.  315. 
H  Hakluyt's  Voyages,  vol.  ii.  p.  366.  Edition  of  1809. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


335 


Tavernier,  who,  like  Marco  Polo,  Barbosa,  and  Frederick, 
was  a  merchant  as  well  as  a  traveller,  and  therefore  accustomed 
to  judge  of  the  qualities  of  goods,  and  who  travelled  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  seventeenth  century,  says — "The  white  calicuts," 
(calicoes,  or  rather  muslins,  so  called  from  the  great  commercial 
city  of  Calicut,  whence  the  Portuguese  and  Dutch  first  brought 
them)  "  are  woven  in  several  places  in  Bengal  and  Mogulistan, 
and  are  carried  to  Raioxsary  and  Baroche*  to  be  whitened,  be- 
cause of  the  large  meadows  and  plenty  of  lemons  that  grow 
thereabouts,  for  they  are  never  so  white  as  they  should  be  till 
they  are  dipped  in  lemon-water.  Some  calicuts  are  made  so 
fine,  you  can  hardly  feel  them  in  your  hand,  and  the  thread, 
when  spun,  is  scarce  discerniblet."  The  same  writer  says, 
"  There  is  made  at  Seconge  (in  the  province  of  Malwa)  a  sort 
of  calicut  so  fine  that  when  a  man  puts  it  on,  his  skin  shall 
appear  as  plainly  through  it,  as  if  he  was  quite  naked  ;  but 
the  merchants  are  not  permitted  to  transport  it,  for  the  governor 
is  obliged  to  send  it  all  to  the  Great  Mogul's  seraglio  and  the 
principal  lords  of  the  court,  to  make  the  sultanesses  and  noble- 
men's wives  shifts  and  garments  for  the  hot  weather ;  and  the 
king  and  the  lords  take  great  pleasure  to  behold  them  in  these 
shifts,  and  see  them  dance  with  nothing  else  upon  themt" 
Speaking  of  the  turbans  of  the  Mohammedan  Indians,  Taver- 
nier  says,  "  The  rich  have  them  of  so  fine  cloth,  that  twenty- 


*  "  At  the  town  of  Baroche,  in  Guzerat,  Forbes  describes  the  manufacture  as 
being  now  in  nearly  the  same  state  as  when  Arrian's  Periplus  was  written  (about 
A.  D.  100.).  He  says — "  The  cotton  trade  at  Baroche  is  very  considerable,  and 
the  manufactures  of  this  valuable  plant,  from  the  finest  muslin  to  the  coarsest 
sail-cloth,  employ  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children,  in  the  metropolis 
and  the  adjacent  villages.  The  cotton  clearers  and  spinners  generally  reside  in 
the  suburbs,  or  poorahs,  of  Baroche,  which  are  very  extensive.  The  weavers' 
houses  are  mostly  near  the  shade  of  tamarind  and  mango  trees,  under  which,  at 
sun-rise,  they  fix  their  looms,  and  weave  a  variety  of  cotton  cloth,  with  very  fine 
baftas  and  muslins  (See  Plate  V.).  Surat  is  more  famous  for  its  colored  chintzes 
and  piece  goods.  The  Baroche  muslins  are  inferior  to  those  of  Bengal  and  Madras, 
nor  do  the  painted  chintzes  of  Guzerat  equal  those  of  the  Coromandel  coast." — 
Forbes's  Oriental  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.  p.  222. 

t  Tavernier's  Travels,  contained  in  Dr.  Harris's  Collection  of  Voyages  and 
Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  811. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  829. 


336 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


five  or  thirty  ells  of  it  put  into  a  turban  will  not  weigh  four 
ounces*." 

An  English  writer,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in 
a  remonstrance  against  the  admission  of  India  muslins,  for 
which,  he  says,  the  high  price  of  thirty  shillings  a  yard  was 
paid,  unintentionally  compliments  the  delicacy  of  the  fabric  by 
stigmatizing  it  as  "  only  the  shadow  of  a  commodity"!*." 

The  late  Rev.  William  Ward,  a  missionary  at  Serampore, 
informs  us  that  "  at  Shantee-pooru  and  Dhaka,  muslins  are 
made  which  sell  at  a  hundred  rupees  a  piece.  The  ingenuity 
of  the  Hindoos  in  this  branch  of  manufacture  is  wonderful. 
Persons  with  whom  I  have  conversed  on  this  subject  say,  that 
at  two  places  in  Bengal,  Sonar-ga  and  Vilkrum-pooru,  muslins 
are  made  by  a  few  families  so  exceedingly  fine,  that  four 
months  are  required  to  weave  one  piece,  which  sells  at  five  hun- 
dred rupees.  When  this  muslin  is  laid  on  the  grass,  and  the 
dew  has  fallen  upon  it,  it  is  no  longer  discernibleXP 

After  such  statements  as  the  above,  from  sober  and  creditable 
witnesses,  the  Oriental  hyperbole  which  designates  the  Dacca 
muslins  as  " webs  of  woven  wind"  seems  only  moderately  po- 
etical. 

Sir  Charles  Wilkins  brought  a  specimen  of  Dacca  muslin 
from  India  in  the  year  1786,  which  was  presented  to  him  by 
the  principal  of  the  East  India  Company's  factory  at  Dacca,  as 
the  finest  then  made  there.  Like  all  Indian  muslins,  it  has  a 
yellowish  hue,  caused  by  imperfect  bleaching.  Though  the 
worse  for  many  years'  exposure  in  a  glass  case,  and  the  hand- 
ling of  visiters,  it  is  of  exquisite  delicacy,  softness,  and  trans- 
parency ;  yet  the  yarn  of  which  it  is  woven,  and  of  which  Mr. 
Wilkins  also  brought  a  specimen,  is  not  so  fine  as  some  which 
has  been  spun  by  machinery  in  England.  The  following 
minute,  made  by  Sir  Joseph  Banks  on  a  portion  of  this  yarn, 
thirty  or  forty  years  since,  appears  at  the  India  House  in  his 
own  writing,  together  with  a  specimen  of  the  muslin : — 

*  Tavernier's  Travels,  Harris's  Collection,  vol.  i.  p.  833. 
t  The  Naked  Truth,  in  an  Essay  upon  Trade,  p.  11. 

X  View  of  the  History,  Literature,  and  Mythology  of  the  Hindoos,  by  William 
Ward ;  vol.  iii.  p.  127.  3d  edition. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


337 


"  The  portion  of  skein  which  Mr.  Wilkins  gave  to  me 
weighed  34-^  grains  :  its  length  was  5  yards  7  inches,  and  it 
consisted  of  196  threads.  Consequently,  its  whole  length  was 
1018  yards  and  7  inches.  This,  with  a  small  allowance  for 
fractions,  gives  29  yards  to  a  grain,  203,000  to  a  pound  avoir- 
dupoise  of  7000  grains;  that  is,  115  miles,  2  furlongs,  and  60 
yards." 

Cotton  yarn  has  been  spun  in  England,  making  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  hanks  to  the  lb.  weight,  each  hank  measuring 
840  yards,  and  the  whole  forming  a  thread  of  167  miles  in 
length*.  This,  however,  must  be  regarded  merely  as  showing 
how  fine  the  cotton  can  possibly  be  spun  by  machinery,  since 
no  such  yarn  is  or  could  be  used  in  the  making  of  muslins,  or 
for  any  other  purpose.  The  extreme  of  fineness  to  which 
yarns  for  muslins  are  ever  spun  in  Great  Britain  is  250  hanks 
to  the  lb.,  which  would  form  a  thread  measuring  119^  miles; 
but  it  is  very  rarely  indeed  that  finer  yarn  is  used  than  220 
hanks  to  the  lb.,  which  is  less  fine  than  the  specimen  of  Dacca 
muslin  above  mentioned.  The  Indian  hand-spun  yarn  is  soft- 
er than  mule-yarn,  and  the  muslins  made  of  the  former  are 
much  more  durable  than  those  made  of  the  latter.  In  point 
of  appearance,  however,  the  book-muslin  of  Glasgow  is  very 
superior  to  the  Indian  muslin,  not  only  because  it  is  better 
bleached,  but  because  it  is  more  evenly  woven,  and  from  yarn 
of  uniform  thickness,  whereas  the  threads  in  the  Indian  fabric 
vary  considerably. 

It  is  probable  that  the  specimens  brought  by  Wilkins,  though 
the  finest  then  made  at  the  city  of  Dacca,  is  not  equal  to  the 
most  delicate  muslins  made  in  that  neighborhood  in  former 
times,  or  even  in  the  present.  The  place  called  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Ward  Sonar-ga,  and,  by  Mr.  Walter  Hamilton,  Sooner- 
gong,  a  decayed  city  near  Dacca,  has  been  said  to  be  unrivalled 
in  its  muslins.    Mr.  Ward's  testimony  has  been  quoted  above. 

*  Pliny,  in  speaking  of  linen  yarn,  gives  us  an  account  (L.  xix.  cap.  2.)  of  the 
cuirass  of  the  Egyptian  king  Amasis,  which  is  preserved  in  the  temple  of  Minerva 
in  Rhodes.  "  Each  thread,"  says  he,  "  is  shown  to  consist  of  365  fibres,  which 
fact  Mucianus,  being  a  third  time  Consul,  lately  asserted  at  Rome." — Mucianus 
was  Consul  the  third  time  A.  D.  75. 

43 


338 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


Mr.  Ralph  Fitch,  an  English  traveller,  in  1583,  spoke  of  the 
same  place  when  he  said — "  Sinnergan  is  a  town  six  leagues 
from  Serrapore,  where  there  is  the  best  and  finest  cloth  made  of 
cotton  that  is  in  all  India*."  Mr.  Hamilton  says — "  Soonergong 
is  now  dwindled  down  to  an  inconsiderable  village.  By  Abul 
Fazel,  in  1582,  it  is  celebrated  for  the  manufacture  of  a  beau- 
tiful cloth,  named  cassas  (cossaes,)  and  the  fabrics  it  still  pro- 
duces justify  to  the  present  generation  its  ancient  renownt". 
But  it  seems  that  there  has  been  a  great  decline  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  the  finest  muslins,  which  is  both  stated  and  ac- 
counted for  by  Mr.  Hamilton  in  the  following  passage  on  the 
district  of  Dacca  Jelulpoor : — 

"  Plain  muslins,  are  distinguished  by  different  names,  accord- 
ing to  the  fineness  or  closeness  of  the  texture,  as  well  as  floiver- 
ed,  striped,  or  chequered  muslins,  are  fabricated  chiefly  in  this 
district,  where  a  species  of  cotton  named  the  banga  grows,  ne- 
cessary, although  not  of  a  very  superior  quality,  to  form  the 
stripes  of  the  finest  muslins,  for  which  the  city  of  Dacca  has 
been  so  long  celebrated.  The  northern  parts  of  Benares  furnish 
both  plain  and  flowered  muslins,  which  are  not  ill  adapted  for 
common  use,  though  incapable  of  sustaining  any  competition 
with  the  beautiful  and  inimitable  fabrics  of  Dacca. 

u  The  export  of  the  above  staple  articles  has  much  decreased, 
and  the  art  of  manufacturing  some  of  the  finest  species  of  mus- 
lins is  in  danger  of  being  lost,  the  orders  for  them  being  so  few 
that  many  of  the  families  who  possess  by  hereditary  instruc- 
tion the  art  of  fabricating  them  have  desisted,  on  account  of 
the  difficulty  they  afterwards  experience  in  disposing  of  them. 
This  decline  may  partly  be  accounted  for  from  the  utter  stag- 
nation of  demand  in  the  upper  provinces  since  the  downfall  of 
the  imperial  government,  prior  to  which  these  delicate  and 
beautiful  fabrics  were  in  such  estimation,  not  only  at  the  court 
of  Delhi,  but  among  all  classes  of  the  high  nobility  in  India,  as 
to  render  it  difficult  to  supply  the  demand.    Among  more  re- 


*  Hakluyt's  Voyages,  vol.  ii.  p.  390  ;  edit.  1809. 

t  A  Geographical,  Statistical,  and  Historical  Description  of  Hindostan,  by  Wal- 
ter Hamilton,  Esq.  vol.  i.  p.  187— (1820.) 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


339 


cent  causes  also  may  be  adduced  the  French  revolution,  the  de- 
gree of  perfection  to  which  this  peculiar  manufacture  has  late- 
ly been  brought  in  Great  Britain,  the  great  diminution  in  the 
Company's  investment,  and  the  advance  in  the  price  of  cotton." 

With  respect  to  the  peculiar  species  of  cotton  of  which  the 
Dacca  muslins  are  made,  the  following  statement  was  given  to 
a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  in  1830-31,  by  Mr. 
John  Crawfurd,  for  many  years  in  the  service  of  the  East  India 
Company,  and  author  of  the  "  History  of  the  Indian  Archipelago 

"  There  is  a  fine  variety  of  cotton  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Dacca,  from  which  I  have  reason  to  believe  the  fine  muslins  of 
Dacca  are  produced,  and  probably  to  the  accidental  discovery 
of  it  is  to  be  attributed  the  rise  of  this  singular  manufacture ; 
it  is  cultivated  by  the  natives  alone,  not  at  all  known  in  the 
English  market,  nor,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  in  that  of  Calcutta. 
Its  growth  extends  about  forty  miles  along  the  banks  of  the 
Megna,  and  about  three  miles  inland.  I  consulted  Mr.  Cole- 
brook  respecting  the  Dacca  cotton,  and  had  an  opportunity  of 
perusing  the  manuscripts  of  the  late  Dr.  Roxburgh,  which  con- 
tain an  account  of  it ;  he  calls  it  a  variety  of  the  common  herba- 
ceous annual  cotton  of  India,  and  states  that  it  is  longer  in  the 
staple,  and  affords  the  material  from  which  the  Dacca  muslins 
have  been  always  made." 

The  cotton  manufacture  in  India  is  not  carried  on  in  a  few 
large  towns,  or  in  one  or  two  districts ;  it  is  universal.  The 
growth  of  cotton  is  nearly  as  general  as  the  growth  of  food ; 
everywhere  the  women  spend  a  portion  of  their  time  in  spin- 
ning ;  and  almost  every  village  contains  its  weavers,  and  sup- 
plies its  own  inhabitants  with  the  scanty  clothing  they  require*. 
Being  a  domestic  manufacture,  and  carried  on  with  the  rudest 
and  cheapest  apparatus,  it  requires  neither  capital,  mills,  or  an 


*  Orme,  in  his  Historical  Fragments  of  the  Mogul  Empire,  says,  "  On  the 
coast  of  Coromandel  and  in  the  province  of  Bengal,  when  at  some  distance  from 
the  high  road  or  a  principal  town,  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  village  in  which  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  is  not  employed  in  making  a  piece  of  cloth.  At  present, 
much  the  greatest  part  of  the  whole  provinces  are  employed  in  this  single  manufac- 
ture." (p.  409.)  "  The  progress  of  the  cotton  manufacture  includes  no  less  than 
a  description  of  the  lives  of  half  the  inhabitants  of  Indostan."  (p.  413.) 


340 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


assemblage  of  various  trades.  The  cotton  is  separated  from 
the  seeds  by  a  small  rude  hand-mill,  or  gin,  turned  by  women. 

The  mill  consists  of  two  rollers  of  teak  wood,  fluted  longitudi- 
nally with  five  or  six  grooves,  and  revolving  nearly  in  contact. 
The  upper  roller  is  turned  by  a  handle,  the  lower  being  carried 
along  with  it  by  means  of  a  perpetual  screw  at  the  axis.  The 
cotton  is  put  in  at  one  side,  and  drawn  through  by  the  revolv- 
ing rollers ;  but  the  seeds,  being  too  large  to  pass  through  the 
opening,  are  torn  off  and  fall  down  on  the  opposite  side  from 
the  cotton*. 


*  To  the  efforts  of  Eli  Whitney,  America  is  indebted  for  the  value  of  her  great 
staple.  While  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  has  been  the  chief  source  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  Southern  planter,  the  Northern  manufacturer  comes  in  for  a 
large  share  of  the  benefits  derived  from  this  most  important  offspring  of  American 
ingenuity. 

Eli  Whitney,  who  may  with  justice  be  considered  one  of  the  most  ingenious 
and  extraordinary  men  that  ever  lived,  was  born  in  Westborough,  Worcester 
County,  Massachusetts,  December  8th,  1765.  His  parents  belonged  to  that  re- 
spectable class  in  society,  who,  by  the  labors  of  husbandry,  manage,  by  uniform 
industry,  to  provide  well  for  a  rising  family, — a  class  from  whom  have  risen  most 
of  those  who,  in  New  England,  have  attained  to  high  eminence  and  usefulness. 

Although  Mr.  Whitney's  machines  have  benefited  the  people  of  this  country, 
and  the  world  at  large,  millions  upon  millions,  yet,  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  he 
did  not  reap  that  reward  which  his  ingenuity  and  industry,  as  well  as  virtuous 
course  of  conduct  so  richly  merited,  but  died  much  involved  in  debt,  while  thou- 
sands who  had  conspired  to  defraud  him  of  his  just  and  lawful  rights,  were  en- 
riched by  the  use  of  his  machines. 

"  If  we  should  assert,"  said  Judge  William  Johnson,  "  that  the  benefits  of  this 
invention  (the  Cotton  gin)  exceed  $100,000,000,  we  can  prove  the  assertion  by 
correct  calculation." 

Who  is  there  that,  like  him,  has  given  his  country  and  the  world  a  machine — 
the  product  of  his  own  skill — which  has  furnished  a  large  part  of  its  population, 
from  childhood  to  age,  with  a  lucrative  employment ;  by  which  their  debts  have 
been  paid  off ;  their  capitals  increased  ;  their  lands  trebled  in  value  ? 

Mr.  Whitney  died  on  the  8th  of  January  1825,  and  is  buried  in  the  cemetery 
of  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  His  tomb  is  after  the  model  of  Scipio's  at  Rome. 
It  is  simple  and  beautiful,  and  promises  to  endure  for  years.  It  bears  the  follow- 
ing inscription. 

ELI  WHITNEY. 

THE  INVENTOR  OF  THE  COTTON  GIN. 
OF  USEFUL  SCIENCE  AND  ARTS,  THE  EFFICIENT  PATRON  AND  IMPROVER. 
IN  THE  SOCIAL  RELATIONS  OF  LIFE,  A  MODEL  OF  EXCELLENCE. 
WHILE  PRIVATE  AFFECTION  WEEPS  AT  HIS  TOMB,  HIS  COUNTRY  HONORS  HIS  MEMORY. 
BORN  DECEMBER  8TH,  1765.  DIED  JAN.  8TH,  1825. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


341 


The  next  operation  is  that  of  bowing  the  cotton,  to  clear  it 
from  dirt  and  knots.  A  large  bow,  made  elastic  by  a  complica- 
tion of  strings,  is  used ;  this  being  put  in  contact  with  a  heap 
of  cotton,  the  workman  strikes  the  string  with  a  heavy  wooden 
mallet,  and  its  vibrations  open  the  knots  of  the  cotton,  shake 
from  it  the  dust  and  dirt,  and  raise  it  to  a  downy  fleece.  The 
hand-mill  and  bow  have  been  used  immemorially  throughout 
all  the  countries  of  Asia,  and  have  their  appropriate  names  in 
the  Arabic  and  other  languages :  they  were  formerly  used  in 
America,  whence  the  term,  still  applied  in  commerce,  "  bowed 
Georgia  cotton"  The  hatters  of  Great  Britain  still  raise  their 
wool  by  the  bow.  The  cotton  being  thus  prepared,  without 
any  carding,  it  is  spun  by  the  women  ;  the  coarse  yarn  is  spun 
on  a  one-thread  wheel,  and  very  much  resembling  those  used 
at  the  present  day  by  the  peasantry  in  the  west  of  Ireland. 

The  finer  yarn  is  spun  with  a  metallic  spindle,  and  some- 
times without  a  distaff ;  a  bit  of  clay  is  attached  as  a  weight  to 
one  end  of  the  spindle,  which  is  turned  round  with  the  left 
hand,  whilst  the  cotton  is  supplied  with  the  right ;  the  thread  is 
wound  upon  a  small  piece  of  wood.    The  spinster  keeps  her 


The  convention  of  American  Geologists  and  Naturalists  who  met  at  New  Ha- 
ven in  May  last  (1845.),  were  invited,  together  with  their  ladies,  by  Mrs.  Whit- 
ney, the  widow  of  the  inventor  of  the  Cotton  gin,  to  attend  an  evening  party  at 
her  house,  which  was  accepted,  where  they  had  an  elegant  supper  and  conver- 
sazione. 

"  It  is  melancholy,"  says  Mr.  Bains  in  his  History  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture, 
p.  114,  "to  contrast  with  the  sanguine  eagerness  of  inventors,  the  slowness  of 
mankind  to  acknowledge  and  reward  their  merits, — to  observe  how,  on  many  oc- 
casions, genius,  instead  of  realizing  fame  and  fortune,  has  been  pursued  by  disas- 
ter and  opposition, — how  trifling  difficulties  have  frustrated  the  success  of  splendid 
discoveries, — and  how  those  discoveries,  snatched  from  the  grasp  of  their  broken- 
hearted authors,  have  brought  princely  fortunes  to  men  whose  only  talent  was  in 
making  money.  When  inventors  fail  in  their  projects,  no  one  pities  them  ;  when 
they  succeed,  persecution,  envy,  and  jealousy  are  their  reward.  Their  means 
are  generally  exhausted  before  their  discoveries  become  productive.  They  plant 
a  vineyard,  and  either  starve,  or  are  driven  from  their  inheritance,  before  they  can 
gather  the  fruit." 

Would  it  not  be  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the  cotton  manufacturing  interest  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe,  to  present  Mrs.  Whitney  with  some  token  of  their 
respect  and  veneration  for  the  memory  of  the  inventor  of  the  Cotton  gin  ? 


342 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OP 


fingers  dry  by  the  use  of  a  chalky  powder.  (See  Part  First, 
Chapter  I,  pp.  17  and  18.) 

The  yarn,  having  been  reeled  and  warped  in  the  simplest 
possible  manner,  is  given  to  the  weaver  whose  loom  is  as  rude 
a  piece  of  apparatus  as  can  be  imagined.  It  consists  merely  of 
two  bamboo  rollers,  one  for  the  warp  and  the  other  for  the  web, 
and  a  pair  of  headles.  The  shuttle  performs  the  double  office  of 
shuttle  and  lay,  and  for  this  purpose  is  made  like  a  large  net- 
ting needle,  and  of  a  length  rather  more  than  the  breadth  of  the 
web*.  This  apparatus  the  weaver  carries  to  a  tree,  under 
which  he  digs  a  hole  (which  may  be  called  the  treadle-hole) 
large  enough  to  contain  his  legs  and  the  lower  tackle.  He  then 
stretches  his  warp  by  fastening  his  bamboo  rollers  at  a  proper 
distance  from  each  other  by  means  of  wooden  pins.  The 
headle-jacks  he  fastens  to  some  convenient  branch  of  the  tree 
over  his  head  (See  Plate  V.) :  two  loops  underneath,  in  which 
he  inserts  his  great  toes,  serve  instead  of  treadles ;  and  his 
long  shuttle,  which  also  performs  the  office  of  lay,  draws  the 
weft  through  the  warp,  and  afterwards  strikes  it  home  to  the 
fell.  "  There  is  not  so  much  as  an  expedient  for  rolling  up  the 
warp  :  it  is  stretched  out  to  the  full  length  of  the  web,  which 
makes  the  house  of  the  weaver  insufficient  to  contain  him. 
He  is  therefore  obliged  to  work  continually  in  the  open  air ;  and 
every  return  of  inclement  weather  interrupts  himt." 

Forbes  describes  the  weavers  in  Guzerat,  near  Baroche,  as 
fixing  their  looms  at  sun-rise  under  the  shade  of  tamarind  and 
mango  trees.  In  some  parts  of  India,  however,  as  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges,  the  weavers  work  under  the  cover  of  their 
sheds,  fixing  the  geer  of  their  looms  to  a  bamboo  in  the  roof 
(See  Plate  V.).    They  size  their  warps  with  a  starch  made 


*  The  shuttle  is  not  always  of  this  length.  Hoole,  in  his  "  Mission  to  India," 
represents  it  as  requiring  to  be  thrown,  in  which  case  it  must  be  short ;  and  a 
drawing  of  a  Candyan  weaver,  in  the  Magazine  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion 
of  Useful  Knowledge,  shows  the  shuttle  of  the  same  size  as  our  modern  shawl 
shuttle.  Indeed  we  have  abundant  evidence  that  the  Indians  employed  shuttles 
of  this  latter  description  from  time  immemorial.  The  Chinese  also  use  shuttles 
of  the  same  description.    (See  Chinese  loom,  Plate  I.) 

t  Mill's  History  of  British  India,  book  ii.  ch.  8. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


343 


from  the  root  called  kandri.  When  chequered  muslins  are 
wrought,  three  persons  are  employed  at  each  loom. 

Some  authentic  particulars  concerning  the  habits  and  remu- 
neration of  the  Hindoos  engaged  in  the  making  of  cotton  cloth, 
are  contained  in  an  unpublished  account  of  the  districts  of 
Puraniya  (Purneah,)  Patna,  and  Dinajpur,  by  Dr.  Francis 
Hamilton,  better  known  as  Dr.  F.  Buchanan,  (he  having  taken 
the  name  of  Hamilton,)  the  author  of  the  "  Journey  from  Ma- 
dras to  Mysore,  Canara,  and  Malabar."  This  account  of  the 
above-named  provinces  near  the  Ganges  is  in  several  manu- 
script volumes  in  the  library  of  the  India  House,  in  London. 
We  learn  from  his  elaborate  survey  that  the  spinning  and 
weaving  of  cotton  prevails  throughout  these  provinces.  The 
fine  yarns  are  spun  with  an  iron  spindle,  and  without  distaff, 
generally  by  women  of  rank ;  no  caste  is  disgraced  here  by 
spinning,  as  in  the  south  of  India ;  the  women  do  not  employ 
all  their  time  at  this  work,  but  only  so  much  as  is  allowed  by 
their  domestic  occupations.  The  coarse  yarns  are  spun  on  a 
small  wheel  turned  by  the  hand.  The  hand-mill  is  used  to 
free  the  cotton  from  its  seeds,  and  the  bow  to  tease  it.  The 
following  capital  is  required  for  the  weaver's  business  :  a  loom, 
2J  rupees  ;  sticks  for  warping  and  a  wheel  for  winding,  2  anas ; 
a  shop,  4  rupees  ;  thread  for  two  ready  money  pieces,  worth  6 
rupees  each,  5  rupees  ; — total  11  rupees  10  anas ;  to  which 
must  be  added  a  month's  subsistence.  The  man  and  his  wife 
warp,  wind,  and  weave  two  pieces  of  this  kind  in  a  month,  and 
he  has  7  rupees  (14  shillings  stg.)  profit,  deducting,  however, 
the  tear  and  wear  of  his  apparatus,  which  is  a  trifle.  A  person 
hired  to  weave  can  in  a  month  make  three  pieces  of  this  kind, 
and  is  allowed  2  anas  in  the  rupee  of  their  value,  which  is  2f 
rupees  (4s.  6d.)  a  month.  The  finest  goods  cost  2  rupees  a 
piece  for  weaving.  Dr.  Hamilton,  in  his  observations  on  an- 
other district,  states  the  average  profit  of  a  loom  engaged  in 
weaving  coarse  goods  to  be  28  rupees  (£2.  16s.)  a  year,  ot 
something  less  than  13<i.  a  week.  At  Puraniya  and  Dinajpur 
the  journeymen  cotton-weavers  usually  made  from  2  to  2\  ru- 
pees (from  4s.  to  5s.)  a  month.  At  Patna  a  man  and  his  wife 
made  from  3  to  4  rupees  (from  6s.  to  8s.)  a  month  by  beating 


344 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


and  cleaning  cotton  ;  and  each  loom  employed  in  making-  che- 
quered muslins,  has  a  profit  of  108i  rupees  a  year  (£10.  16s.), 
that  is,  Is.  Ad.  a  week  for  each  of  the  three  persons  who  work 
the  loom.  The  average  earnings  of  a  journeyman  weaver, 
therefore,  appear  to  be  from  Is.  to  Is.  Ad.  per  week.  At  Ban- 
galore, and  in  some  other  parts  of  southern  India,  this  author 
states  that  weavers  earn  from  3d.  to  8d.  a  day,  according  as 
they  are  employed  on  coarse  or  fine  goods*  ;  but  this  is  so  much 
above  the  usual  remuneration  for  labor  in  India,  that,  if  the 
statement  is  not  erroneous,  it  must  be  of  extremely  limited  ap- 
plication. On  the  same  authority,  a  woman  spinning  coarse 
yarn  can  earn  l^d.  per  dayt. 

A  fact  is  mentioned  by  Dr.  Hamilton,  in  his  unpublished  ac- 
count of  Patna,  which  affords  a  striking  indication  as  to  the 
national  character  of  the  Hindoos — "  All  Indian  weavers,  who 
work  for  the  common  market,  make  the  wroof  of  one  end  of  the 
cloth  coarser  than  that  of  the  other,  and  attempt  to  sell  to  the 
unwary  by  the  fine  end,  although  every  one  almost,  who  deals 
with  them,  is  perfectly  aware  of  the  circumstance,  and  although 
in  the  course  of  his  life  any  weaver  may  not  ever  have  an  op- 
portunity of  gaining  by  this  means,  yet  he  continues  the  prac- 
tice, with  the  hope  of  being  able  at  some  time  or  other  to  take 
advantage  of  the  purchaser  of  his  goods." 

The  East  India  Company  has  a  factory  at  Dacca,  and  also 
in  other  parts  of  India, — not,  as  the  American  use  of  the  word 
"  factory"  might  seem  to  imply,  a  mill,  for  the  manufacture  is 
entirely  domestic — but  a  commercial  establishment  in  a  manu- 
facturing district,  where  the  spinners,  weavers,  and  other  work- 
men are  chiefly  employed  in  providing  the  goods  which  the 
Company  export  to  Europe.  This  establishment  is  under  the 
management  of  a  commercial  resident,  who  agrees  for  the 
kinds  of  goods  that  may  be  required,  and  superintends  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  orders  received  from  the  presidencies.  Such  is 
the  poverty  of  the  workmen,  and  even  of  the  manufacturers 
who  employ  them,  that  the  resident  has  to  advance  beforehand 


*  Buchanan's  Journey  through  Mysore,  vol.  i.  pp.  216-218. 
+  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  317. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


345 


the  funds  necessary  in  order  to  produce  the  goods.  The  con- 
sequence of  this  system  is,  that  the  manufacturers  and  their 
men  are  in  a  state  of  dependence  almost  amounting  to  servi- 
tude. The  resident  obtains  their  labor  at  his  own  price,  and, 
being  supported  by  the  civil  and  military  power,  he  establishes 
a  monopoly  of  the  worst  kind,  and  productive  of  the  most  preju- 
dicial effects  to  industry.  The  Act  of  1833,  which  put  an  end 
to  the  commercial  character  of  the  Company,  will  of  course 
abolish  all  the  absurd  and  oppressive  monopolies  it  exercised. 

It  cannot  but  seem  astonishing,  that  in  a  department  of  in- 
dustry, where  the  raw  material  has  been  so  grossly  neglected, 
where  the  machinery  is  so  rude,  and  where  there  is  so  little 
division  of  labor,  the  results  should  be  fabrics  of  the  most  exqui- 
site delicacy  and  beauty,  unrivalled  by  the  products  of  any 
other  nation,  even  those  best  skilled  in  the  mechanic  arts. 
This  anomaly  is  explained  by  the  remarkably  fine  sense  of 
touch  possessed  by  that  effeminate  people,  by  their  patience  and 
gentleness,  and  by  the  hereditary  continuance  of  a  particular 
species  of  manufacture  in  families  through  many  generations, 
which  leads  to  the  training  of  children  from  their  very  infancy 
in  the  processes  of  the  art.  Mr.  Orme  observes — "  The  women 
spin  the  thread  destined  for  the  cloth,  and  then  deliver  it  to  the 
men,  who  have  fingers  to  model  it  as  exquisitely  as  these  have 
prepared  it.  The  rigid,  clumsy  fingers  of  a  European  would 
scarcely  be  able  to  make  a  piece  of  canvass  with  the  instru- 
ments which  are  all  that  an  Indian  employs  in  making  a  piece 
of  cambric  (muslin).  It  is  further  remarkable,  that  every  dis- 
tinct kind  of  cloth  is  the  production  of  a  particular  district,  in 
which  the  fabric  has  been  transmitted  perhaps  for  centuries 
from  father  to  son, — a  custom  which  must  have  conduced  to 
the  perfection  of  the  manufacture*."  The  last  mentioned 
fact  may  be  considered  as  a  kind  of  division  of  labor. 

Mr.  Mill  thus  explains  the  unequalled  manual  skill  of  the  In- 
dian weaver : — "  It  is  a  sedentary  occupation,  and  thus  in  har- 
mony with  his  predominant  inclination.  It  requires  patience, 
of  which  he  has  an  inexhaustible  fund.     It  requires  little 


*  Ormes's  Historical  Fragments  of  the  Mogul  Empire,  p.  413. 


346 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


bodily  exertion,  of  which  he  is  always  exceedingly  sparing; 
and  the  finer  the  production,  the  more  slender  the  force  which 
he  is  called  upon  to  apply.  But  this  is  not  all.  The  weak  and 
delicate  frame  of  the  Hindu  is  accompanied  with  an  acuteness 
of  external  sense,  particularly  of  touch,  which  is  altogether  un- 
rivalled ;  and  the  flexibility  of  his  fingers  is  equally  remarkable. 
The  hand  of  the  Hindu,  therefore,  constitutes  an  organ  adapt- 
ed to  the  finest  operations  of  the  loom,  in  a  degree  which  is  al- 
most or  altogether  peculiar  to  himself*." 

It  is,  then,  to  a  physical  organization  in  the  natives,  admi- 
rably suited  to  the  processes  of  spinning  and  weaving ;  to  the 
possession  of  the  raw  material  in  the  greatest  abundance ;  to 
the  possession  also  of  the  most  brilliant  dyes  for  staining  and 
pri?iting  the  cloth ;  to  a  climate  which  renders  the  colors  lively 
and  durable;  and  to  the  hereditary  practice,  by  particular 
castes,  classes,  and  families,  both  of  the  manual  operations  and 
chemical  processes  required  in  the  manufacture ; — it  is  to  these 
causes,  with  very  little  aid  from  science,  and  in  an  almost  bar- 
barous state  of  the  mechanical  arts,  that  India  owes  her  long 
supremacy  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton. 

Bengal  is  celebrated  for  the  production  of  the  finest  muslins ; 
the  Coromandel  coast,  for  the  best  chintzes  and  calicoes  ;  and 
Surat,  for  strong  and  inferior  goods  of  every  kind.  The  cottons 
of  Bengal  go  under  the  names  of  casses,  arnans,  and  garats ; 
and  the  handkerchiefs  are  called  Burgoses  and  Steinkirkes. 
Table  cloths  of  superior  quality  are  made  at  Patna.  The 
basins,  or  basinets,  come  from  the  Northern  Circars.  Condaver 
furnishes  the  beautiful  handkerchiefs  of  Masulipatam,  the  fine 
colors  of  which  are  partly  obtained  from  a  plant  called  chage, 
which  grows  on  the  banks  of  the  Krishna,  and  on  the  coast  of 
the  Bay  of  Bengal.  The  chintzes  and  ginghams  are  chiefly 
made  at  Masulipatam,  Madras,  St.  Thome,  and  Paliamcotta. 
The  long  cloths  and  fine  pullicats  are  produced  in  the  presi- 
dency of  Madras.  The  coarse  piece-goods,  under  the  name  of 
baftas,  doutis,  and  pullicats,  as  well  as  common  muslins  and 
chintzes,  are  extensively  manufactured  in  the  district  of  which 


*  Mill's  History  of  British  India,  book  ii.  c.  8. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


347 


Surat  is  the  port.  Besides  all  these,  there  is  an  endless  variety 
of  fabrics,  many  of  which  are  known  in  the  markets  of  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Africa. 

The  commerce  of  the  Indians  in  these  fabrics  has  been  ex- 
tensive, from  the  Christian  era  to  the  end  of  the  last  century. 
For  many  hundred  years,  Persia,  Arabia,  Syria,  Egypt,  Abys- 
sinia, and  all  the  eastern  parts  of  Africa,  were  supplied  with  a 
considerable  portion  of  their  cottons  and  muslins,  and  with  all 
which  they  consumed  of  the  finest  qualities,  from  the  marts  of 
India.  This  commerce  existed  in  the  last  age,  and  is  described 
by  the  Abbe  Raynal*  and  Legoux  de  Flaix.  The  blue  calicoes 
of  Guzerat  were  long  bought  by  the  English  and  Dutch  for 
their  trade  with  Guinea.  The  great  marts  of  this  commerce 
on  the  west  coast  of  India  were  Surat  and  Calicut,  the  former 
of  which  is  near  to  Baroche,  the  manufacturing  capital  of  Gu- 
zerat, in  which  province  a  considerable  part  of  the  exported  cot- 
tons of  India  were  made ;  and  on  the  east  coast,  Masulipatam, 
Madras,  and  St.  Thome,  whence  the  varied  and  extensive 
products  of  the  Coromandel  coast  are  exported. 

Owing  to  the  beauty  and  cheapness  of  Indian  muslins, 
chintzes,  and  calicoes,  there  was  a  period  when  the  manufac- 
turers of  all  the  countries  of  Europe  were  apprehensive  of  be- 
ing ruined  by  their  competition.  In  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  Dutch  and  English  East  India  Companies  imported  these 
goods  in  large  quantities ;  they  became  highly  fashionable  for 
ladies'  and  children's  dresses,  as  well  as  for  drapery  and  furni- 
ture, and  the  coarse  calicoes  were  used  to  line  garments.  To 
such  an  extent  did  this  proceed,  that  as  early  as  1678  a  loud 
outcry  was  made  in  England  against  the  admission  of  Indian 
goods,  which,  it  was  maintained,  were  ruining  the  woollen 
manufacture, — a  branch  of  industry  which  for  centuries  was 
regarded  with  an  almost  superstitious  veneration,  as  a  kind  of 
palladium  of  the  national  prosperity,  and  which  was  incompa- 
rably the  most  extensive  branch  of  manufactures  till  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century.    A  few  extracts  from  pamphlets 


*  Histoire  Philosophique  et  Politique  des  Etablissements  du  Commerce  des  Eu- 
ropeans dans  les  deux  Indes,  torn.  ii.  liv.  iv.  ch.  4. 


348 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


published  in  the  seventeenth  and  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  will  not  only  afford  amusement,  but  will 
show  the  wonderful  commercial  revolution  which  has  since 
been  effected  by  machinery.  In  the  year  1678,  a  pamphlet 
was  issued  under  the  title — "  The  Ancient  Trades  Decayed 
and  Repaired  again,"  in  which  the  author  thus  bewails  the  in- 
terference of  cotton  with  woollen  fabrics. 

"  This  trade  (the  woollen)  is  very  much  hindered  by  our  own 
people,  who  do  wear  many  foreign  commodities  instead  of  our 
own ;  as  may  be  instanced  in  many  particulars ;  viz.  instead  of 
green  sey,  that  was  wont  to  be  used  for  children's  frocks,  is  now 
used  painted  and  Indian-stained  and  striped  calico ;  and  instead 
of  a  perpetuana  or  shalloon  to  line  men's  coats  with,  is  used 
sometimes  a  glazed  calico,  which  in  the  whole  is  not  above  I2d. 
cheaper,  and  abundantly  worse.  And  sometimes  is  used  a 
Bang-ale  that  is  brought  from  India,  both  for  linings  to  coats, 
and  for  petticoats  too ;  yet  our  English  ware  is  better  and 
cheaper  than  this,  only  it  is  thinner  for  the  summer.  To  rem- 
edy this,  it  would  be  necessary  to  lay  a  very  high  impost  upon 
all  such  commodities  as  these  are,  and  that  no  calicoes  or 
other  sort  of  linen  be  suffered  to  be  glazed." — pp.  16,  17. 

The  writer,  with  equal  wisdom,  recommends  the  prohibition 
of  stage  coaches,  on  account  of  their  injuring  the  proprietors  of 
the  inns  on  the  road,  by  conveying  the  passengers  too  quickly, 
and  at  too  little  expense  to  themselves.  A  pamphlet  entitled 
"  The  Naked  Truth,  in  an  Essay  upon  Trade,"  published  in 
1696,  informs  us  that — 

"  The  commodities  that  we  chiefly  receive  from  the  East 
Indies  are  calicoes,  muslins,  Indian  wrought  silks,  pepper,  salt- 
petre, indigo,  &c.  The  advantage  of  the  Company  is  chiefly 
in  their  muslins  and  Indian  silks,  (a  great  value  in  these  com- 
modities being  comprehended  in  a  small  bulk,)  and  these  be- 
coming the  general  wear  in  England." — p.  4.  "Fashion  is 
truly  termed  a  witch  ;  the  dearer  and  scarcer  any  commodity, 
the  more  the  mode;  30s.  a  yard  for  muslins,  and  only  the 
shadow  of  a  commodity  when  procured." — p.  11. 

So  sagacious  and  far-sighted  an  author  as  Daniel  de  Foe 
(Author  of  Robinson  Crusoe)  did  not  escape  the  general  notion, 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


349 


that  it  was  not  merely  injurious  to  the  woollen  and  silk  manu- 
factures, but  also  a  national  evil,  to  have  clothing  cheap 

FROM  ABROAD   RATHER  THAN  TO  MANUFACTURE   IT  DEAR 

at  home.  In  his  Weekly  Review,  which  contains  so  many 
opinions  on  trade,  credit,  and  currency  far  beyond  the  age,  he 
thus  laments  the  large  importations  of  Indian  goods. 

"  The  general  fancy  of  the  people  runs  upon  East  India  goods 
to  that  degree,  that  the  chintz  and  painted  calicoes,  which 
before  were  only  made  use  of  for  carpets,  quilts,  <fcc,  and  to 
clothe  children  and  ordinary  people,  become  now  the  dress  of 
our  ladies ;  and  such  is  the  power  of  a  mode  as  we  saw  our 
persons  of  quality  dressed  in  stuffs  which  but  a  few  years  before 
their  chambermaids  would  have  thought  too  ordinary  for  them  : 
the  chintz  was  advanced  from  lying  upon  their  floors  to  their 
backs,  from  the  foot-cloth  to  the  petticoat ;  and  even  the  queen 
herself  at  this  time  was  pleased  to  appear  in  China  silks  and 
calico.  Nor  was  this  all,  but  it  crept  into  our  houses,  closets, 
and  bed-chambers ;  curtains,  cushions,  chairs,  and  at  last  beds 
themselves,  were  nothing  but  calicoes  or  Indian  stuffs  ;  and  in 
short,  almost  everything  that  used  to  be  made  of  wool  or  silk, 
relating  either  to  the  dress  of  the  women  or  the  furniture  of  our 
houses,  was  supplied  by  the  Indian  trade." 

"Above  half  of  the  (woollen)  manufacture  was  entirely  lost, 
half  of  the  people  scattered  and  ruined,  and  all  this  by  the 
intercourse  of  the  East  India  trade." —  Weekly  Review,  Janu- 
ary 31st,  1708. 

However  exaggerated  and  absurd  De  Foe's  estimate  of  the 
injury  caused  to  the  woollen  manufacture,  as  manifested  by  the 
small  value  of  the  whole  importations  of  Indian  fabrics,  at  that 
time,  as  well  as  (much  more  decisively)  by  the  experience  of 
recent  times,  when  the  woollen  manufacture  has  sustained  the 
incomparably  more  formidable  competition  of  the  English  cotton 
manufacture,  it  is  evident  from  his  testimony,  and  that  of  other 
writers,  that  Indian  calicoes,  muslins,  and  chintzes,  had  become 
common  in  England  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
De  Foe's  complaint  was  not  of  an  evil  existing  in  1708,  when 
he  wrote,  but  of  one  a  few  years  earlier  ;  for  he  says  in  another 
place,  that  the  "  prohibition  of  Indian  goods"  had  "  avert- 


350 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


ED  THE   RUIN   OF  ENGLISH  MANUFACTURES,  AND  REVIVED 

their  prosperity."  This  prohibition  took  place  by  the  Act 
11  and  12  William  III.  cap.  10.,  (1700,)  which  forbid  the  intro- 
duction of  Indian  silks  and  printed  calicoes  for  domestic  use, 
either  as  apparel  or  furniture,  under  a  penalty  of  £200  on  the 
wearer  or  seller,  and  as  this  Act  did  not  prevent  the  continued 
use  of  the  goods,  which  were  probably  smuggled  from  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  other  Acts  for  the  same  purpose  were  passed 
at  a  later  date. 

A  volume  published  in  the  year  1728,  entitled  "A  Plan  of 
the  English  Commerce,"  shows  that  the  evil  of  a  consumption 
of  Indian  manufactures  still  prevailed,  and  that  it  was  ascribed 
to  a  cause  for  which  the  writer  saw  no  remedy,  namely,  the  will 
of  the  ladies,  or,  in  his  own  words,  their  "passion  for  their 
fashion"  The  other  countries  of  Europe  are  represented  as 
equally  suffering  from  Indian  competition  and  female  perverse- 
ness,  and  as  attempting  in  the  same  way  to  find  a  remedy  in 
legislative  prohibition.  Holland  was  an  honorable  exception. 
The  author  says — 

"The  calicoes  are  sent  from  the  Indies  by  land  into  Turkey, 
by  land  and  inland  seas  into  Muscovy  and  Tartary,  and  about 
by  long-sea  into  Europe  and  America,  till  in  general  they  are 
become  a  grievance,  and  almost  all  the  European  nations  but 
the  Dutch  restrain  and  prohibit  them." — p.  180. 

"Two  things,"  says  the  writer,  "among  us  are  too  un- 
governable, viz.  our  passions  and  our  fashions. 

"  Should  I  ask  the  ladies  whether  they  would  dress  by  law, 
or  clothe  by  act  of  parliament,  they  would  ask  me  whether 
they  were  to  be  statute  fools,  and  to  be  made  pageants  and 
pictures  of? — whether  the  sex  was  to  be  set  up  for  our  jest,  and 
the  parliament  had  nothing  to  do  but  make  Indian  queens  of 
them  ? — that  they  claim  liberty  as  well  as  the  men,  and  as  they 
expect  to  do  what  they  please,  and  say  what  they  please,  so 
they  will  wear  what  they  please,  and  dress  how  they  please. 

"  It  is  true  that  the  liberty  of  the  ladies,  their  passion  for 
their  fashion,  has  been  frequently  injurious  to  the  manufac- 
tures of  Great  Britain,  and  is  so  still  in  some  cases ;  but  I  do 
not  see  so  easy  a  remedy  for  that,  as  for  some  other  things  of 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


351 


the  like  nature.  The  ladies  have  suffered  some  little  restraint 
that  way,  as  in  the  wearing  East  India  silks,  instead  of  Eng- 
lish ;  and  calicoes  and  other  things  instead  of  worsted  stuffs 
and  the  like ;  and  we  do  not  see  they  are  pleased  with  it." — 
p.  253. 

It  appears,  then,  that  not  more  than  a  century  ago,  the  cot- 
ton fabrics  of  India  were  so  beautiful  and  cheap,  that  nearly  all 
the  governments  of  Europe  thought  it  necessary  to  prohibit 
them,  or  to  load  them  with  heavy  duties,  in  order  to  pro- 
tect their  own  manufactures.  How  surprising  a  rev- 
olution has  since  taken  place  !  The  Indians  have  not  lost 
their  former  skill ;  but  a  power  has  arisen,  which  has  robbed 
them  of  their  ancient  ascendancy.  The  following  document 
furnishes  superabundant  proof  how  a  manufacture  which  has 
existed  without  a  rival  for  thousands  of  years,  is  withering  un- 
der the  competition  of  a  power  which  is  as  it  were  but  of  yes- 
terday :  it  would  be  well  if  it  did  not  also  illustrate  the  very 
different  measure  of  protection  and  justice  which  governments 
usually  afford  to  their  subjects  at  home,  and  to  those  of  their 
remote  dependencies. 

PETITION  OF  NATIVES  OF  BENGAL,  RELATIVE  TO  DU 
TIES  ON  COTTON  AND  SILK. 

"  Calcutta,  1st.  Sept.  1831. 

tt  To  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lords  of  His  Majesty's 
Priviy  Council  for  Trade,  fyc. 

"  The  humble  Petition  of  the  undersigned  Manufacturers 
and  Dealers  in  Cotton  and  Silk  Piece-goods,  the  fabrics  of 
Bengal ; 

"  Sheweth — That  of  late  years  your  Petitioners  have  found 
their  business  nearly  superseded  by  the  introduction  of  the  fab- 
rics of  Great  Britain  into  Bengal,  the  importation  of  which 
augments  every  year,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  the  native  man- 
ufactures. 

"  That  the  fabrics  of  Great  Britain  are  consumed  in  Bengal, 
without  any  duties  being  levied  thereon  to  protect  the  native 
fabrics. 


352 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


"  That  the  fabrics  of  Bengal  are  charged  with  the  following 
duties  when  they  are  used  in  Great  Britain — 

"  On  manufactured  cottons,  10  per  cent. 
"  On  manufactured  silks,  24  per  cent. 

"  Your  Petitioners  most  humbly  implore  your  Lordships'  con- 
sideration of  these  circumstances,  and  they  feel  confident  that 
no  disposition  exists  in  England  to  shut  the  door  against  the 
industry  of  any  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  great  empire. 

"  They  therefore  pray  to  be  admitted  to  the  privilege  of  Brit- 
ish subjects,  and  humbly  entreat  your  Lordships  to  allow  the 
cotton  and  silk  fabrics  of  Bengal  to  be  used  in  Great  Britain 
free  of  duty,  or  at  the  same  rate  which  may  be  charged  on 
British  fabrics  consumed  in  Bengal*. 

"  Your  Lordships  must  be  aware  of  the  immense  advantages 
the  British  manufacturers  derive  from  their  skill  in  constructing 
and  using  machinery,  which  enables  them  to  undersell  the 
unscientific  manufacturers  of  Bengal  in  their  own  country :  and, 
although  your  Petitioners  are  not  sanguine  in  expecting  to 
derive  any  great  advantage  from  having  their  prayer  granted, 
their  minds  would  feel  gratified  by  such  a  manifestation  of  your 
Lordships'  good  will  towards  them ;  and  such  an  instance  of 
justice  to  the  natives  of  India  would  not  fail  to  endear  the 
British  government  to  them. 

"  They  therefore  confidently  trust,  that  your  Lordships' 
righteous  consideration  will  be  extended  to  them  as  British 
subjects,  without  exception  of  sect,  country,  or  color. 

"  And  your  Petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray." 
[Signed  by  117  natives  of  high  respectability.] 

Dacca,  notwithstanding  its  present  insignificance  as  com- 
pared with  its  former  grandeur,  may  nevertheless  still  be  classed 
among  second  rate  cities.  It  has  a  population  of  150,000  in- 
habitants, which  is  nearly  a  third  more  than  the  city  of  Balti- 


*  This  reasonable  request  was  not  complied  with,  the  duty  on  India  cotton  be- 
ing still  10  per  cent.  The  extra  duty  of  3Jd  per  yard  on  printed  cottons  was 
taken  off  when  the  excise  duty  on  English  prints  was  repealed,  in  1831.  Eng- 
lish cottons  imported  into  India  only  pay  a  duty  of  2J  per  cent. 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


353 


more  contains.  Some  new  brick  dwellings  have  silently  sprung 
up  here  and  there,  it  may  also  be  observed,  within  the  last  few 
years  ;  and  this  city  can  now  boast  an  Oil  Mill  driven  by  steam, 
and  an  Iron  Suspension  Bridge.  Three  more  steam  engines 
are  in  the  course  of  erection*.  On  the  whole,  an  increase  may 
be  looked  for,  rather  than  the  contrary,  in  the  wealth,  population, 
and  importance  of  the  city  of  Dacca. 

It  would  be  curious  to  compare  the  gradual  decrease  of  the 
population,  with  the  falling  off  of  the  manufacture  of  those 
beautiful  cotton  fabrics,  for  which  this  city  was  once  without  a 
rival  in  the  worldt.  The  first  falling  off  in  the  Dacca  trade, 
took  place  so  far  back  as  1801,  previous  to  which  the  yearly 
advances  made  by  the  East  India  Company,  and  private  traders, 
for  Dacca  muslins,  were  estimated  at  upwards  of  twenty-five 
lacs  of  rupeest.  In  1807,  the  Company's  investment  had  fallen 
to  595,900,  and  the  private  trade  to  about  560,200.  In  1813, 
the  private  trade  did  not  exceed  205,950,  and  that  of  the  Com- 
pany was  scarcely  more  considerable.  And  in  1817,  the  English 
commercial  residency  was  altogether  discontinued.  The  French 
and  Dutch  factories  had  been  abandoned  many  years  before. 
The  division  of  labor  was  carried  to  a  great  extent  in  the  manu- 
facture of  fine  muslins.  In  spinning  the  very  fine  thread,  more 
especially,  a  great  degree  of  skill  was  attained.  It  was  spun 
with  the  fingers  on  a  "  Takwa"  or  fine  steel  spindle,  by  young 
women,  who  could  only  work  during  the  early  part  of  the 
morning,  while  the  dew  was  on  the  ground ;  for  such  was  the 
extreme  tenuity  of  the  fibre,  that  it  would  not  bear  manipula- 
tion after  the  sun  had  risen.  One  retti  of  cotton  could  thus  be 
spun  into  a  thread  eighty  cubits  long ;  which  was  sold  by  the 
spinners  at  one  rupee,  eight  annas,  per  sicca  weight.  The 
"  Raffugars,"  or  Darners,  were  also  particularly  skilful.  They 
could  remove  an  entire  thread  from  a  piece  of  muslin,  and 


*  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  xvii. 

t  If  Providence  should  continue  to  bless  the  work  of  our  hands,  and  our  life  and 
health  be  preserved,  we  indulge  the  hope  of  being  able,  at  no  very  distant  period, 
to  investigate  this  subject  more  fully. 

t  Lac  of  rupees  is  one  hundred  thousand  rupees,  which  at  55  cents  each 
amount  to  fifty-five  thousand  dollars,  or  at  %2s.  6d.  sterling,  to  £12,500. 

45 


354 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


replace  it  by  one  of  a  finer  texture.  The  cotton  used  for  the 
finest  thread,  was  grown  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
Dacca,  more  especially  about  Sunergong.  Its  fibre  is  too  short, 
however,  to  admit  of  its  being  worked  up  by  any  except  that 
most  wonderful  of  all  machines — the  human  hand.  The  art 
of  making  the  very  fine  muslin  fabrics  is  now  lost — and  a  pity 
it  is  that  it  should  be  so. 

In  1820,  a  resident  of  Dacca,  on  a  special  order  received  from 
China,  procured  the  manufacture  of  two  pieces  of  muslin,  each 
ten  yards  long  by  one  wide,  and  weighing  ten  and  a  half  sicca 
rupees. — The  price  of  each  piece  was  100  sicca  rupees.  In 
1822,  the  same  individual  received  a  second  commission  for  two 
similar  pieces,  from  the  same  quarter ;  but  the  parties  who  had 
supplied  him  on  the  former  occasion  had  died  in  the  mean  time, 
and  he  was  unable  to  execute  the  commission. 

The  annual  investment,  called  the  "  Malbus  Khas,"  for  the 
royal  wardrobe  at  Delhi,  absorbed  a  great  part  of  the  finest  fabrics 
in  former  times  :  the  extreme  beauty  of  some  of  these  muslins, 
was  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  names  they  bore :  such  as, 
"  Abrowan"  running  water ;  " Siebnem"  evening  dew,  &c. 
The  cotton  manufacture  has  not  yet  arrived  at  anything  like 
this  perfection  with  us,  and  probably  never  will.* 

*  The  manufacture  of  fine  muslin,  was  attempted  both  in  Lancashire  and  at 
Glasgow,  about  the  year  1780,  with  weft  spun  by  the  jenny.  The  attempt 
failed,  owing  to  the  coarseness  of  the  yarn.  Even  with  Indian  weft,  muslins 
could  not  be  made  to  compete  with  those  of  the  East.  But  when  the  mule  was 
brought  into  general  use,  in  1785,  both  weft  and  warp  were  produced  sufficiently 
fine  for  muslins  ;  and  so  quickly  did  the  weaver  avail  himself  of  the  improvement  in 
the  yarn,  that  no  less  than  500,000  pieces  of  muslin  were  manufactured  in  Great 
Britain  in  the  year  1787.  In  a  "  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  of  the  Court 
of  Directors  of  the  East  India  Company  upon  the  subject  of  the  Cotton  Manu- 
facture of  this  Country,"  made  in  the  year  1793,  it  is  said,  that  "  every  shop  of- 
fers British  muslins  for  sale  equal  in  appearance,  and  of  more  elegant  patterns 
than  those  of  India,  for  one-fourth,  or  perhaps  more  than  one-third,  less  in 
price."  "  Muslin  began  to  be  made  nearly  at  the  same  time  at  Bolton,  at  Glas- 
gow, and  at  Paisley,  each  place  adopting  the  peculiar  description  of  fabric  which 
resembled  most  those  goods  it  had  been  accustomed  to  manufacture  ;  and,  in 
consequence  of  this  judicious  distribution  at  first,  each  place  has  continued  to 
maintain  a  superiority  in  the  production  of  its  own  article.  Jaconets,  both  coarse 
and  fine,  but  of  a  stout  fabric,  checked  and  striped  muslins,  and  other  articles  of 
the  heavier  description  of  this  branch,  are  manufactured  in  Bolton,  and  its  neigh- 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


355 


Coarse  cotton  piece  goods  still  continue  to  be  manufactured 
at  Dacca,  though  from  the  extreme  cheapness  of  English  cloths, 
it  is  not  improbable  that  the  native  manufacture  will  be  alto- 
gether superseded  ere  long. 

In  1823-4,  cotton  piece  goods,  mostly  coarse,  passed  the 
Dacca  Custom  House,  to  the  value  of  1,442,101.  In  1829-30, 
the  value  of  the  same  export  was  969,952  only.  There  was  a 
similar  falling  off  in  silk  and  embroidered  goods  during  the 
same  period. 

In  the  export  of  the  articles  of  cotton  yarn  again,  there  has 
been  an  increase.  In  1813,  the  value  was  4,480  rupees  only ; 
whereas  in  1821-22,  it  amounted  to  39,319  rupees.  From 
that  period  it  has,  however,  decreased ;  and  in  1829-30,  the 
value  of  the  native  cotton  yarn  exported  from  Dacca,  amount- 
ed to  29,475  rupees  only. 

Annexed  are  two  statements — one  showing  the  comparative 
prices  of  muslins  now  manufactured  at  Dacca,  and  of  the  same 
description  of  cloth,  the  produce  of  British  looms. — The  other, 
the  comparative  prices  of  Dacca  cloths,  manufactured  from 
yarn  spun  in  the  country,  and  from  British  cotton  yarn. 
These  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  at  the  present  moment,  and 
their  general  accuracy  may  be  relied  on. 

COMPARATIVE  STATEMENT  OF  THE  PRICES  OF  MUSLINS  MANUFACTURED 


AT  DACCA,  AND  THE  PRODUCE  OF  THE  BRITISH  LOOMS. 


Manufac- 

Produce of 

ASSORTMENTS. 

tured  at 

the  British 

Dacca. 

Looms. 

1st  sort 

25 

8 

«  a 

2nd  ditto 

16 

5 

27  to  28 

6 

12  to  13 

4  to  U 

Jaconet  Muslin,  40 corresponding  ) 

1st  ditto 

38  to  40 

20  to  22 

with  Jungle  Cossas,  ....  £ 

2nd  ditto 

24  to  25 

9  to  10 

8  to  9 

5  to  6 

Cambric,  corresponding  with  Camiz  Cossas, 

13  to  14 

6  to  9J 

15  to  16 

4  to  5 

12  to  13 

5  to  5^ 

Book  Muslin,  corresponding  with  Mulmulls, 

10  to  11 

7  to  8 

28  to  30 

14  to  15 

borhood.  Book,  mull,  and  leno  muslins,  and  jaconets  of  a  lighter  fabric  than  those 
made  in  Lancashire,  are  manufactured  in  Glasgow.  Sewed  and  tambored  muslins 
are  almost  exclusively  made  there  and  in  Paisley." — Encyclopedia  Britannica. 


356 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


COMPARATIVE  STATEMENT  OF  THE  PRICES  OF  DACCA  CLOTHS,  MANU- 
FACTURED WITH  COTTON  YARN  SPUN  IN  THE  COUNTRY,  AND  FROM 
BRITISH  COTTON  YARN. 


ASSORTMENTS. 


Mulmuls,  40  by  2,  1st  sort 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 

Sablams,  40  by  2,  1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 
4th  ditto 
5th  ditto 

Sarbans,  40  cubits  1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 

Allabalis  Adi,  1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 
4th  ditto 

Tarindans,  40  cubits,  1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 
4th  ditto 

San,  per  pair,  1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 

Dhotis,  per  pair,  1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 
4th  ditto 
5th  ditto 
6th  ditto 

Sheraganj  Cossas,  40  cubits,  ...    1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 
4th  ditto 
5th  ditto 

Sheraganj  Hamam,  40  by  3, .    .    .    1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 
4th  ditto  , 
5th  ditto  , 
6th  ditto 

Jamdan  Dhotis,  10  cubits,     ...    1st  ditto 

2nd  ditto 
3rd  ditto 


DACCA  MUSLINS. 


Manufactured 
with  Country 
Cotton  Thread. 


3| 
5* 

7J 
9 


8  to  9 

10  to  12 
14  to  15 

4  to  4J 
54  to  6 

11  to  12 
14  to  15 
17  to  18 

3 

3J  to 

5  to 

7  to 

8  to 

9  to  10 
44  to  5 
6  J  to  7 
11  to  12 

13  to  14 

5 

5  to  5J 
9  to  10 

5 

6  to  6J 

7  to  74 

8  to  84 
10  104  to  11 

9  to  11 

4 
5 

54  to 

7  to 

8  to 

5 

6  to 
74  to 

9  to 

11  to  12 

14  to  15 
54  to  6 
64  to  7 
74  to  8 


6 

74 

84 

64 

8 

94 


The  manufacture  of  cotton,  as  we  have  seen,  was  general  in 
India  and  had  attained  high  excellence  in  the  age  of  the  first 
Greek  historian,  that  is,  in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  at 


THE  COTTON  MANUFACTURE. 


357 


which  time  it  had  already  existed  for  an  unknown  period ;  yet 
eighteen  centuries  more  elapsed  before  it  was  introduced  into 
Italy  or  Constantinople,  or  even  secured  a  footing  in  the  neigh- 
boring empire  of  China.  Though  so  well  suited  to  hot  climates, 
we  have  seen  that  cottons  were  known  rather  as  a  curiosity 
than  as  a  common  article  of  dress  in  Egypt  and  Persia,  five 
centuries  after  the  Greeks  had  heard  of  the  "  wool-bearing 
trees"  of  India :  in  Egypt,  as  has  been  shown,  the  manufacture 
never  reached  any  considerable  degree  of  excellence,  and  the 
muslins  worn  by  the  higher  classes  have  always  been  imported 
from  India*.  In  Spain  the  manufacture,  after  flourishing  to 
some  degree,  became  nearly  extinct.  In  Italy,  Germany,  and 
Flanders,  it  had  also  a  lingering  and  ignoble  existence. 


*  In  Arabia  and  the  neighboring  countries,  cottDns  and  muslins  came  gradually 
into  use  ;  and  the  manufacture  was  spread,  by  the  commercial  activity  and  enter- 
prise of  the  early  followers  of  Mohammed,  throughout  the  extended  territories 
subdued  by  their  arms.  "  It  is  recorded  of  the  fanatical  Omar,  the  immediate 
successor  of  the  Arabian  impostor,  that  he  preached  in  a  tattered  cotton  gown,  torn 
in  twelve  places ;  and  of  Ali,  his  contemporary,  who  assumed  the  caliphate  after 
him,  that  on  the  day  of  his  inauguration,  he  went  to  the  mosque  dressed  in  a  thin 
cotton  gown,  tied  round  him  with  a  girdle,  a  coarse  turban  on  his  head,  his  slip- 
pers in  one  hand,  and  his  bow  in  the  other,  instead  of  a  walking  staff." — Crick- 
ton's  History  of  Arabia,  vol.  i.  pp.  397,  403. 


PART  FOURTH, 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 
FLAX. 


CULTIVATION  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  FLAX  BY  THE  ANCIENTS  

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

Earliest  mention  of  Flax — Linen  manufactures  of  the  Egyptians — Linen  worn  by 
the  priests  of  Isis — Flax  grown  extensively  in  Egypt — Flax  gathering — Envel- 
opes of  Linen  found  on  Egyptian  mummies — Examination  of  mummy-cloth — 
Proved  to  be  Linen — Flax  still  grown  in  Egypt — Explanation  of  terms — Bys- 
sus — Reply  to  J.  R.  Forster — Hebrew  and  Egyptian  terms —  Flax  in  North 
Africa,  Colchis,  Babylonia — Flax  cultivated  in  Palestine — Terms  for  flax  and 
tow — Cultivation  of  Flax  in  Palestine  and  Asia  Minor — In  Elis,  Etruria,  Cis- 
alpine Gaul,  Campania,  Spain — Flax  of  Germany,  of  the  Atrebates,  and  of  the 
Franks — Progressive  use  of  linen  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

The  earliest  mention  of  flax  by  any  author  occurs  in  the  ac- 
count of  the  plague  of  hail,  which  devastated  Lower  Egypt, 
Ex.  ix.  31.  The  Hebrew  term  for  flax  in  this  and  various 
other  passages  of  the  old  Testament  is  fin&s  ;  the  correspond- 
ing word  in  the  Chaldee,  Syriac,  and  Arabic  versions  is  awns 
Aivov,  LXX.    Linum,  Jerome. 

In  Isaiah  xix.  9,  according  to  King  James's  Translators  and 
Bishop  Lowth,  mention  is  made  of  those  "  that  work  in  fine 
flax"  and  which  was  one  of  the  chief  employments  of  the 
Egyptians.  According  to  Herodotus  (ii.  37,  81.)  the  Egyptians 
universally  wore  linen  shirts,  which  were  fringed  at  the  bottom. 
The  fringe  consisted  of  the  thrums,  or  ends  of  the  webs. 
Thrums  used  for  this  purpose  may  be  seen  in  the  cloths  which 
are  found  in  Egyptian  mummies. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE.  359 

Besides  the  linen  shirt  the  priests  wore  an  upper  garment  of 
linen,  more  especially  when  they  officiated  in  the  temples. 
This  garment  was  probably  of  the  exact  form  of  a  modern 
linen  sheet.  The  distinction  between  the  shirt  and  the  sheet 
worn  over  it,  as  well  as  the  reason  why  linen  was  used  for  all 
sacred  purposes,  is  clearly  expressed  in  the  two  following  pas- 
sages from  Apuleius  and  Jerome. 

Etiamne  cuiquam  mirum  videri  potest,  cui  sit  ulla  memoria  religionis,  hominem 
tot  mysteriis  Deum  conscium,  quaedam  sacrorum  crepundia  domi  adversare,  atque 
ea  lineo  texto  involvere,  quod  purissimum  est  rebus  divinis  velamentum  ?  Quippe 
lana,  segnissimi  corporis  excrementum,  pecori  detracta,  jam  hide  Orphei  et  Pyth- 
agoras scitis,  profanus  vestitus  est.  Sed  enim  mundissima  lini  seges,  inter  optimas 
fruges  terra  exorta,  non  mode  indutui  et  amictui  sanctissimis  iEgyptiorum  sacer- 
dotibus,  sed  opertui  quoque  in  rebus  sacris  usurpatur. 

Apuleii  Apolog.  p.  64.  ed.  Priccei. 

Can  any  one  impressed  with  a  sense  of  religion  wonder,  that  a  man  who  has 
been  made  acquainted  with  so  many  mysteries  of  the  gods,  should  keep  at  home 
certain  sacred  emblems  and  wrap  them  in  a  linen  cloth,  the  purest  covering  for 
divine  objects?  For  wool,  the  excretion  of  a  sluggish  body,  taken  from  sheep, 
was  deemed  a  profane  attire  even  according  to  the  early  tenets  of  Orpheus  and 
Pythagoras.  But  flax,  that  cleanest  and  best  production  of  the  field,  is  used,  not 
only  for  the  inner  and  outer  clothing  of  the  most  holy  priests  of  the  Egyptians, 
but  also  for  covering  sacred  objects. — Yates's  Translation. 

Indutus  was  the  putting  on  of  the  inner,  amictus  of  the 
outer  garment. 

Vestibus  lineis  utuntur  iEgyptii  sacerdotes  non  solum  extrinsecus,  sed  et  intrin- 
secus. — Hieron.  in  EzeJc.  44.  folio  257. 

The  Egyptian  priests  use  linen  garments,  not  only  without,  but  also  within. 

Plutarch  says*,  that  the  priests  of  Isis  wore  linen  on  account 
of  its  purity,  and  he  remarks  how  absurd  and  inconsistent  would 
have  been  their  conduct,  if  they  had  carefully  plucked  the 
hairs  from  their  own  bodies,  and  yet  clothed  themselves  in 
wool,  which  is  the  hair  of  sheep.  He  also  mentions  the  opinion 
of  some  who  thought  that  flax  was  used  for  clothing,  because 
the  color  of  its  blossom  resembles  the  etherial  blue  which 
surrounds  the  world;  and  he  states,  that  the  priests  of  Isis 
were  also  buried  in  their  sacred  vestments.    According  to 


*  De  Iside  et  Osiride,  prope  init.  Opp.  ed.  H.  Stephani,  Par.  1572,  torn,  i 
p.  627,  628. 


360 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


Strabo,  Panopolis  was  an  ancient  seat  of  the  linen  manufac- 
ture*. 

Celsius  in  his  Hierobotanicon  (vol.  ii.  p.  287-291.),  and  Fors- 
ter  in  his  treatise  De  Bysso  Antiquorum  (p.  65-68.)  have 
quoted  other  passages  from  ancient  authors,  which  concur  to 
show  the  abundance  and  excellence  of  the  flax  grown  anciently 
in  Lower  Egypt,  and  more  particularly  in  the  vicinity  of  Pelu- 
sium,  the  general  employment  of  it  among  the  inhabitants  for 
clothing,  and  the  exclusive  use  of  linen  cloth  for  the  garments 
of  the  priesthood  and  for  other  sacred  purposes,  and  especially 
for  the  worship  of  Isis  and  Osiris.  From  the  same  authorities 
we  learn,  that  the  Egyptian  flax  and  the  cloth  woven  from  it 
were  shipped  in  great  quantities  to  all  the  ports  of  the  Mediter- 
raneanf. 

In  connection  with  these  statements  the  reader  is  referred  to 
what  has  already  been  advanced  (See  Part  Second,  Chap.  I.) 
on  the  use  of  wool  for  clothing  by  the  Egyptians ;  and  it  may 
be  also  observed,  that  when  we  find  it  stated  by  ancient  au- 
thors, that  the  priests  wore  linen  only,  the  term  ought  not  to  be 
so  strictly  understood  as  to  exclude  the  use  of  cotton,  which 
would  probably  be  considered  equally  pure  and  equally  adapted 
for  sacred  purposes  with  linen,  and  which  was  brought  in  an- 
cient times  from  India  to  Egypt ;  and  the  term  linum  was  un- 
doubtedly often  employed  in  so  general  a  sense  as  to  include 
cotton. 

These  testimonies  of  ancient  authors  are  confirmed  in  a  very 
remarkable  manner  by  existing  monuments.  The  paintings 
in  the  Grotto  of  El  Kab  represent  among  other  scenes  a  field 
of  corn  and  a  crop  of  flax,  the  latter  distinguished  by  its  infe- 
rior height,  by  its  round  capsules,  and  by  being  pulled  up  by 
the  roots  instead  of  being  reaped.  The  mode  of  binding  the 
flax  in  bundles  is  also  exhibited,  and  the  separation  of  the 
"bolls,"  or  capsules,  containing  the  lin-seed,  from  the  stalk, 
by  the  use  of  a  comb,  or  "ripple."    (See  Description  de 


*  L.  xvii.  §  41.  p.  586.  ed.  Siebenkees. 

t  "  Solomon  had  horses  brought  out  of  Egypt,  and  linen  yarn"  (filpto) :  1 
Kings  x.  28.    2  Chron.  i.  16. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


361 


VEgypte :  Antiquites ;  Planches,  tome  i.  pi.  68.  and  the 
Plates  to  Hamilton's  JEgyptiaca,  xxiii.) 

In  Plate  VI.  is  inserted  so  much  of  the  painting  as  relates  to 
our  present  subject.  Five  persons  are  employed  in  plucking  up 
the  flax  by  the  roots,  viz.,  four  men  and  one  woman.  The 
woman  wears  a  shift  reaching  to  her  ancles,  but  transparent*. 
The  four  men  wear  shirts  which  reach  to  their  knees,  and  are 
not  transparent.  Another  man  binds  the  flax  into  sheaves  :  a 
sixth  carries  it  to  a  distance  :  and  a  seventh  separates  the  seed 
from  the  stem  by  means  of  a  four- toothed  ripple.  The  back  of 
the  ripple  rests  on  the  ground ;  its  teeth  being  raised  to  the 
proper  elevation  by  a  prop,  as  shown  in  the  drawing.  The  man 
sets  his  foot  upon  the  back  to  keep  the  instrument  firm,  and, 
taking  hold  of  a  bunch  of  flax  near  the  root,  draws  it  through 
the  comb.  This  method  is  now  employed  in  Europe.  At  the 
left-hand  corner  of  the  Plate  lies  a  bundle  of  flax  stript  of  its 
capsules,  and  underneath  the  ripple  is  the  heap  of  seed  which 
has  been  separated  from  the  stem. 

Evidence  equally  decisive  is  presented  in  the  innumerable 
mummies,  the  fabrication  of  successive  ages  through  a  period 
of  more  than  two  thousand  years,  which  are  found  in  the  cata- 
combs of  Egypt.  It  is  indeed  disputed,  whether  the  cloth  in 
which  they  are  enveloped  is  linen  or  cotton. 

It  was  believed  to  be  linen  by  all  writers  previous  to  Rouelle. 
More  especially,  this  opinion  was  advanced  by  the  learned 
traveller  and  antiquary,  Professor  John  Greaves,  in  his  Pyra- 
midographia,  published  A.  D.  1646.  He  speaks  of  the  "  linen 
shroud"  of  a  mummy,  which  he  opened,  and  he  says,  u  The 
ribbands"  (or  fillets)  "  by  what  I  observed,  were  of  linen,  which 
was  the  habit  also  of  the  Egyptian  priests."  He  adds,  "  of 
these  ribbands  I  have  seen  some  so  strong  and  perfect  as  if 
they  had  been  made  but  yesterday." 

Rouelle's  dissertation  on  Mummies  is  published  in  the  Me- 
moires  de  VAcademie  R.  des  Sciences  for  the  year  1750.  He 
there  asserts  (p.  150),  that  the  cloth  of  every  mummy  which 


*  This  circumstance  is  adapted  to  illustrate  the  mention  of  "  transparent  gar- 
ments" in  Isaiah  iii.  23.  Lowth's  Translation. 

46 


362  ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 

he  had  an  opportunity  of  examining,  even  that  of  embalmed 
birds,  was  cotton. 

Dr.  Hadley,  however,  who  wrote  a  few  years  after  Rouelle 
[Phil  Transactions  for  1764,  vol  54.),  seems  to  adhere  to  the 
old  opinion.  He  calls  the  cloth  of  the  mummy,  which  he  ex- 
amined, "  linen."  He  says,  it  was  in  fillets  of  different  breadths, 
but  the  greater  part  l~  inches  broad.  "  They  were  torn  longi- 
tudinally :  those  few  that  had  a  selvage,  having  it  on  one  side 
only." 

But  the  opinion  of  Rouelle  received  a  strong  support  from 
Dr.  John  Reinhold  Forster,  to  whom  it  appeared  at  first  almost 
incredible,  although  he  afterwards  supported  it  in  the  most 
decided  manner.  He  determined  to  take  the  first  opportunity 
of  settling  the  question  by  the  inspection  of  mummies,  and 
examined  those  in  the  British  Museum,  accompanied  by  Dr. 
Solander.  Both  of  these  learned  and  acute  inquirers  were  con- 
vinced, that  the  cloth  was  cotton,  deriving  this  opinion  from  the 
inspection  of  all  those  specimens,  which  were  sufficiently  free 
from  gum,  paint,  and  resins,  to  enable  them  to  judge*.  Larcher 
informs  us,  that  he  remarked  the  same  thing  in  these  mummies 
in  1752,  when  he  was  accompanied  by  Dr.  Matyt.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  however,  that  neither  Larcher,  Rouelle,  nor  Forster 
mentions  the  criterion  which  he  employed  to  distinguish  linen 
from  cotton.  They  probably  formed  their  opinion  only  from  its 
apparent  softness,  its  want  of  lustre,  or  some  other  quality,  which 
might  belong  to  linen  no  less  than  to  cotton,  and  which  there- 
fore could  be  no  certain  mark  of  distinction. 

The  opinion  of  Larcher,  Rouelle,  and  Forster  appears  to  have 
been  generally  adopted.  In  particular  we  find  it  embraced  by 
Blumenbach,  who  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1794 
speaks  of  the  c:  cotton  bandages"  of  two  of  the  small  mummies, 
which  he  opened  in  London}:.  In  his  Beitrdge  (i.  e.  Contri- 
butions to  Natural  History,  2nd  part,  p.  73,  Gottingen, 


*  Forster,  De  Bysso  Antiquorum,  London  1776,  p.  70,  71. 
t  Herodote,  par  Larcher.    Ed.  2nde,  Par.  1802,  livre  ii.  p.  357. 
X  On  the  authority  of  this  paper  the  mummy- cloth  is  supposed  to  be  cotton  by 
Heeren,  Ideen,  i.  1.  p.  128. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


363 


1811)  he  says,  he  is  more  firmly  convinced  than  ever,  that  the 
cloth  is  universally  cotton.  He  assigns  also  his  reasons  in  the 
following  terms.  "  I  ground  this  my  conviction  far  less  on  my 
own  views  than  on  the  assurance  of  such  persons  as  I  have 
questioned  on  the  subject,  and  whose  judgment  in  this  matter  I 
deem  incomparably  superior  to  my  own  or  to  that  of  any  other 
scholar,  namely,  of  ladies,  dealers  in  cotton  and  linen  cloth, 
weavers  and  the  like."  He  also  refers  to  the  cultivation  of 
cotton  in  Egypt,  which  he  assumes  probably  on  the  authority 
of  Forster ;  and  to  the  fable  of  Isis  enveloping  in  "  cotton" 
cloth  the  collected  limbs  of  her  husband  Osiris,  who  had  been 
torn  in  pieces  by  Typhon.  The  latter  arguments  are  founded 
on  the  supposition,  that  the  ancient  term  Byssus  meant  cotton, 
and  not  linen.  But  the  question  as  to  its  meaning  must  in 
part  be  decided,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  by  previously  settling 
the  present  question  as  to  the  materials  of  the  mummy  cloth. 
The  opinion  of  ladies,  tradesmen,  and  manufacturers,  though 
it  may  be  better  than  that  of  the  most  learned  man,  if  derived 
from  mere  touch  and  inspection,  is  quite  insufficient  to  decide 
the  question.  If  those  whom  Blumenbach  consulted  thought 
that  the  cloth  was  always  cotton,  many  others  of  equal  expe- 
rience and  discernment  have  given  an  opposite  judgment ;  and 
the  fact  is,  that  linen  cloth,  which  has  been  long  worn  and  often 
washed,  as  is  the  case  with  a  great  proportion  of  the  mummy 
cloth,  and  which  is  either  ragged  or  loose  in  its  texture,  cannot 
be  distinguished  from  cotton  by  the  unassisted  use  of  the  exter- 
nal senses. 

Relying,  however,  on  the  same  evidence  of  ocular  inspection, 
another  distinguished  author,  who  travelled  in  Egypt  and  pub- 
lished his  remarks  about  the  same  time,  says,  "As  to  the 
circumstance  of  cotton  cloths  having  been  exclusively  used  in 
the  above  process,  an  inspection  of  the  mummies  is  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  fact*." 

M.  Jomard,  one  of  the  authors  of  the  great  French  work  on 
Egypt,  published  about  1811,  paid  great  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject.   He  concluded,  that  both  linen  and  cotton  were  employed 


*  jEgyptiaca,  by  William  Hamilton,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.    London,  1809.  p.  320. 


364 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


in  the  bandages  of  mummies,  grounding  his  opinion  partly  on 
their  appearance  and  touch,  and  partly  on  the  testimony  of 
Herodotus,  whom  he  misinterpreted  in  the  manner,  which  will 
hereafter  be  mentioned*. 

Another  of  these  authors,  M.  Costaz,  who  contributed  the 
memoir  on  the  grotto  of  El  Kab,  asserts  that  the  mummy  cloth 
is  found  on  examination  to  be  cottont. 

An  important  paper  on  the  same  subject  appeared  in  the 
Philosophical  Transactions  for  1825.  In  this  Dr.  A.  B.  Gran- 
ville describes  a  mummy,  which  he  opened.  He  dwells  more 
particulary  on  the  circumstances,  which  have  reference  to  ana- 
tomical and  surgical  considerations,  and  expresses  very  strongly 
his  admiration  of  the  skill  and  neatness  employed  in  folding  the 
cloth,  so  as  to  present  an  example  of  every  kind  of  bandage 
used  by  modern  surgeons,  and  to  exhibit  it  in  the  most  perfect 
manner. 

The  passages  which  are  connected  with  the  present  inquiry, 
will  be  quoted  at  length.    Dr.  Granville  observes  {p.  272.), 

The  principal  rollers  appear  to  be  made  of  a  very  compact,  yet  elastic  linen, 
some  of  them  from  four  to  five  yards  in  length,  without  any  stitch  or  seam  in  any 
part  of  them.  There  were  also  some  large  square  pieces  thrown  around  the  head, 
thorax,  and  abdomen,  of  a  less  elastic  texture.  These  pieces  were  found  to  alter- 
nate with  the  complete  swathing  of  the  whole  body.  They  occurred  four  distinct 
times ;  while  the  bandaging,  with  rollers  and  other  fascia?,  was  repeated,  at  least, 
twenty  times.  The  numerous  bandages,  by  which  the  mummy  was  thus  envel- 
oped, were  themselves  wholly  covered  by  a  roller  3 J  inches  wide  and  11  yards 
long,  which  after  making  a  few  turns  around  both  feet,  ascended  in  graceful  spi- 
rals to  the  head,  whence  descending  again  as  far  as  the  breast,  it  was  fixed  there. 
The  termination  of  this  outer  roller  is  remarkable  for  the  loose  threads  hanging 
from  it  in  the  shape  of  a  fringe  and  for  certain  traces  of  characters  imprinted  on 
it  similar  to  those  described  and  delineated  by  Jomard  in  the  Description  de 
V  Egypte.  One  or  two  of  these  characters  have  corroded  the  linen,  leaving  the 
perforated  traces  of  their  form. 

Dr.  Granville  gives  a  fac-simile  of  these  characters,  and  in 
the  same  Plate  he  represents  the  exact  appearance  of  the  exter- 
nal rolls  of  cloth  on  the  mummy.    He  then  says  (p.  274.), 

I  have  satisfied  myself,  that  both  cotton  and  linen  have  been  employed  in  the 
preparation  of  our  mummy,  although  Herodotus  mentions  only  cotton  (byssus) 

*  Description  de  1' Egypte.    Memoires. — Sur  les  Hypogees,  p.  35. 
t  Ibid.  torn.  i.  p.  60. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


365 


as  the  material  used  for  the  purpose.  Most  mummies  have  been  described  as 
wholly  enveloped  in  linen  cloth,  and  some  persons  are  disposed  to  doubt  the  exist- 
ence of  cotton  cloth  in  any,  not  excepting  in  the  one  now  under  consideration. 

But  with  respect  to  the  last  point,  a  simple  experiment  has,  I  think,  set  the 
question  at  rest.  If  the  surface  of  old  linen,  and  of  old  cotton  cloth  be  rubbed 
briskly  and  for  some  minutes  with  a  rounded  piece  of  glass  or  ivory,  after  being 
washed  and  freed  from  all  extraneous  matter,  the  former  will  be  found  to  have 
acquired  considerable  lustre  ;  while  the  latter  will  present  no  other  difference  than 
that  of  having  the  threads  flattened  by  the  operation.  By  means  of  this  test  I 
selected  several  pieces  of  cotton  cloth  from  among  the  many  bandages  of  our 
mummy,  which  I  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  an  experienced  manufacturer, 
who  declared  them  to  be  of  that  material. 

Besides  the  appeal  to  the  senses  of  "  an  experienced  manu- 
facturer," Dr.  Granville  here  proposes  a  new  test,  that  of  rub- 
bing in  the  manner  described.  But,  although  cotton  cloth  in 
all  circumstances  has  less  lustre  than  linen,  still  this  cannot  be 
considered  a  satisfactory  criterion. 

The  ingenious  John  Howell  of  Edinburgh*  paid  some  atten- 
tion to  this  question,  having  a  few  years  since  obtained  and 
opened  a  valuable  mummy.  He  and  the  friends,  whom  he 
consulted,  and  who  were  weavers  and  other  persons  of  practi- 
cal experience,  most  of  them  thought  that  the  cloth  was  alto- 
gether linen :  some  however  thought  that  certain  specimens  of 
it  were  cotton. 

This  curious  and  important  question  was  at  length  decisively 
settled  by  means  of  microscopic  observations  instituted  by  James 
Thomson,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  of  Clitheroe,  one  of  the  most  obser- 
vant and  experienced  cotton-manufacturers  in  Great  Britain. 
He  obtained  about  400  specimens  of  mummy  cloth,  and  em- 
ployed Mr.  Bauer  of  Kew  to  examine  them  with  his  microscopes. 
By  the  same  method  the  structure  and  appearance  of  the  ulti- 
mate fibres  of  modern  cotton  and  flax  were  ascertained ;  and 
were  found  to  be  so  distinct  that  there  was  no  difficulty  in  deci- 
ding upon  the  ancient  specimens,  and  it  was  also  found  that 
they  were  universally  linen.  About  twelve  years  after  Mr. 
Thomson  had  commenced  his  researches  he  published  the  re- 
sults of  them  in  the  Philosophical  Magazine!*,  and  he  has  ac- 


*  Author  of  an  Essay  on  the  War  Galleys  of  the  Ancients,  Edinburgh  1826,  8vo. 
t  Third  Series,  vol.  v.  No.  29,  November  1834 


366 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


companied  them  with  a  Plate  exhibiting  the  obvious  difference 
between  the  two  classes  of  objects.  The  ultimate  fibre  of  cotton 
is  a  transparent  tube  without  joints,  flattened  so  that  its  inward 
surfaces  are  in  contact  along  its  axis,  and  also  twisted  spirally 
round  its  axis  (See  A.  Plate  VI.) :  that  of  flax  is  a  transparent 
tube  jointed  like  a  cane,  and  not  flattened  nor  spirally  twisted 
(See  B.  Plate  VI.).  To  show  the  difference  two  specimens  of 
the  fibres  of  cotton,  and  two  of  the  fibres  of  mummy  cloth  are 
exhibited,  all  of  the  specimens  being  one  hundredth  of  an  inch 
long,  and  magnified  400  times  in  each  dimension.  Any  per- 
son, even  with  a  microscope  of  moderate  power,  may  discern 
the  difference  between  the  two  kinds  of  fibres,  though  not  so 
minutely  and  exactly  as  in  the  figures  of  Mr.  Bauer. 

The  difference,  here  pointed  out,  will  explain  why  linen  has 
greater  lustre  than  cotton  :  it  is  no  doubt  because  in  linen  the 
lucid  surfaces  are  much  larger.  The  same  circumstance  may 
also  explain  the  different  effect  of  linen  and  cotton  upon  the 
health  and  feelings  of  those  who  wear  them  (See  Part  Third, 
Chap.  I.).  Every  linen  thread  presents  only  the  sides  of 
cylinders  :  that  of  cotton,  on  the  other  hand,  is  surrounded  by 
an  innumerable  multitude  of  exceedingly  minute  edges. 

Mr.  Pettigrew,  in  his  "History  of  Egyptian  Mummies" 
[London  1834,  p.  95.),  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  bandages 
are  principally  of  cotton,  though  occasionally  of  linen.  He  has 
since  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  they  are  all  of  linen :  and 
his  opinion  appears  to  be  established  on  the  following  evidence, 
which  he  gives  in  a  note  to  the  above  mentioned  work  (p.  91.). 

Dr.  Ure  has  been  so  good  as  to  make  known  to  me  that  which  I  conceive  to 
be  the  most  satisfactory  test  of  the  absolute  nature  of  flax  and  cotton,  and  in  the 
course  of  his  microscopic  researches  on  the  structure  of  textile  fibres  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  determining  their  distinctive  characters.  From  a  most  precise  and  ac- 
curate examination  of  these  substances  he  has  been  able  to  draw  the  following 
statement: — The  filaments  of  flax  have  a  glassy  lustre  when  viewed  by  day-light 
in  a  good  microscope,  and  a  cylindrical  form,  which  is  very  rarely  flattened. 
Their  diameter  is  about  the  two-thousandth  part  of  an  inch.  They  break  trans- 
versely with  a  smooth  surface,  like  a  tube  of  glass  cut  with  a  file.  A  line  of  light 
distinguishes  their  axis,  with  a  deep  shading  on  one  side  only,  or  on  both  sides, 
according  to  the  direction  in  which  the  incident  rays  fall  on  the  filaments. 

The  filaments  of  cotton  are  almost  never  true  cylinders,  but  are  more  or  less 
flattened  and  tortuous  ;  so  that  when  viewed  under  the  microscope  they  appear 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


367 


in  one  part  like  a  riband  from  the  one-thousandth  to  the  twelve -hundredth  part 
of  an  inch  broad,  and  in  another  like  a  sharp  edge  or  narrow  line.  They  have  a 
pearly  translucency  in  the  middle  space,  with  a  dark  narrow  border  at  each  side, 
like  a  hem.  When  broken  across,  the  fracture  is  fibrous  or  pointed.  Mummy 
cloth,  tried  by  these  criteria  in  the  microscope,  appears  to  be  composed  both  in  its 
warp  and  woof-yarns  of  flax,  and  not  of  cotton.  A  great  variety  of  the  swathing 
fillets  have  been  examined  with  an  excellent  achromatic  microscope,  and  they 
have  all  evinced  the  absence  of  cotton  filaments. 

Mr.  Wilkinson  considers  the  observations  of  Dr.  Ure,  and 
Mr.  Bauer  as  decisive  of  the  question*. 

With  regard  to  the  evidence  from  mummies  it  should  be 
further  remarked,  that,  as  they  are  partly  wrapped  in  old  linen 
(shirts,  napkins,  and  other  articles  of  clothing  and  domestic  fur- 
niture being  found  with  the  long  fillets  and  the  entire  webs), 
they  prove  the  general  application  of  linen  in  Egypt  to  all  the 
purposes  of  ordinary  life. 

Even  to  the  present  day  flax  continues  to  be  a  most  impor- 
tant article  of  cultivation  and  trade  in  Egyptt.  The  climate 
and  soil  are  so  favorable,  that  it  there  grows  to  a  height,  which 
it  never  reaches  in  Europe.  It  must  no  doubt,  become  coarser 
in  proportion  to  its  size,  and  this  circumstance  may  account  for 
the  use  of  it  in  ancient  times  for  all  those  purposes,  for  which 
we  employ  hemp,  as  for  making  nets,  ropes,  and  sail-cloth. 
The  fine  linen  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  must  have  been 
made  from  flax  of  lower  growth  and  with  thinner  stems  ;  and 
the  mummies  testify,  that  they  made  cloth  of  the  finest  as  well 
as  of  the  coarsest  texture. 

The  following  remark  of  Hasselquist  respecting  the  soft  and 
loose  texture  of  the  linen  made  in  Egypt  in  his  time  agrees  re- 
markably with  the  appearance  of  that  found  in  mummies. 
"  The  Egyptian  linen  is  not  so  thick,"  says  he,  "  as  the  Eu- 
ropean, being  softer  and  of  a  looser  texture  ;  for  which  reason 
it  lasts  longer  and  does  not  wear  out  so  soon  as  ours,  which  fre- 
quently wears  out  the  faster  on  account  of  its  stiffness."  He 
also  observes,  "  The  common  people  in  Egypt  are  clothed  in 


*  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  London  1837,  vol.  ih\ 
p.  115. 

t  Browne's  Travels  in  Africa,  p.  83. 


368 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


linen  only,  dyed  blue  with  indigo  ;  but  those  of  better  fortune 
have  a  black  cloak  over  their  linen  shirt." 

The  coarse  linen  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians  was  called  $<«rw. 
It  was  made  of  thick  flax,  and  was  used  for  towels  (vovdapm,  Ju- 
lius Pollux,  vii.  c.  16.),  and  for  sails  (Qotomtj,  Lycophron,  v. 
26. )*.    Qcoawv  may  be  translated  canvass,  or  sail-cloth. 

Fine  linen,  on  the  other  hand,  was  called  'O06vv.  This  term, 
as  well  as  the  preceding,  was  in  all  probability  an  Egyptian 
word,  adopted  by  the  Greeks  to  denote  the  commodity,  to  which 
the  Egyptians  themselves  applied  it.  It  seems  to  correspond, 
as  Salmasiust,  Celsius!,  Forster§,  and  Jablonskill  have  observed, 
to  the  tp-isca  tib«,  "  Pine  linen  of  Egypt,"  in  Proverbs  vii.  16. 
For  tH3«,  put  into  Greek  letters  and  with  Greek  terminations, 
becomes  666^  and  dddvtw.  Hesychius  states,  no  doubt  correctly, 
that  6001.17  was  applied  by  the  Greeks  to  any  fine  and  thin  cloth, 
though  not  of  linen^T.  But  this  was  in  later  times  and  by  a 
general  and  secondary  application  of  the  term. 

It  appears  also  that  in  later  times  was  not  restricted  to  fine 
linen.  It  is  used  for  a  sail  by  Achilles  Tatius  in  describing  a 
storm  (1.  iii.),  and  by  the  Scholiast  on  Homer,  11.  a. 

Agreeably  to  the  preceding  remarks,  the  ^foai  mentioned  in 
the  two  passages  of  the  Iliad  may  be  supposed  to  have  been 
procured  from  Egypt.  Helen,  when  she  goes  to  meet  the  sen- 
ators of  Ilium  at  the  Scsean  Gate,  wraps  herself  in  a  white 
sheet  of  fine  linen  (II.  y.  141.).  The  women,  dancing  on  the 
shield  of  Achilles  (II.  a.  595.),  wear  thin  sheets.  These  thin 
sheets  must  be  supposed  to  have  been  worn  as  shawls,  or  girt 
about  the  bodies  of  the  dancers.  Helen  would  wear  hers  so  as 
to  veil  her  whole  person  agreeably  to  the  representation  of  the 


*  Jablonski  Gloesarium  Vocum  iEgyptiarum,  in  Valpy's  edition  of  Steph.  The- 
6aur.  torn.  i.  p.  ccxcv. 

t  Salmasius  in  Achill.  Tat.  1.  viii.  c.  13,  dddprjs  xiTuv. 
X  Celsii  Hierobotanicon,  t.  ii.  p.  90. 
§  Forster,  De  Bysso,  p.  74. 
||  Ubi  supra,  p.  ccxvu. 

IT  The  ancient  Scholia  (published  by  Mai  and  Butmann)  on  Od.  rj.  107,  state 
that  ddovai  were  made  both  of  flax  and  of  wool.    The  silks  of  India  are  called 

'Oddvai  oqpiica. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


369 


lady,  whom  Paulus  Silentiarius  addresses  in  the  following 
line,  written  evidently  with  Homer's  Helen  before  his  mind : 

You  conceal  your  flowing  locks  with  a  snow-white  sheet. — Brunch,  Analecta, 
vol.  iii.  p.  81. 

Perhaps  even  the  sheets,  spread  for  Phoenix  to  lie  upon  in  the 
tent  of  Achilles,  and  for  Ulysses  on  his  return  to  Ithica  from 
the  country  of  the  Phaeacians*  though  not  called  by  the  Egyp- 
tian name,  should  be  supposed  to  have  been  made  in  Egypt. 
In  the  time  of  Homer  (900  B.  C.)  the  use  of  linen  cloth  was 
certainly  rare  among  the  Greeks ;  the  manufacture  of  it  was 
perhaps  as  yet  unknown  to  them. 

The  term  LMv  (Sindon),  was  used  to  denote  linen  cloth  still 
more  extensively  than  6B6vn9  inasmuch  as  it  occurs  both  in  Greek 
and  Latin  authorst.  According  to  Julius  Pollux  this  also  was 
a  word  of  Egyptian  origin,  and  Coptic  scholars  inform  us  that 
it  is  found  in  the  modern  Shento:  which  has  the  same  significa- 
tion!:. 

Serapion  was  called  Sindonites,  because  he  always  wore 
linen  (Palladii  Hist.  Lausiaca,  p.  172).  He  was  an  Egyptian, 
and  retained  the  custom  of  his  native  country. 

Although  ZivSwv  originally  denoted  linen,  we  find  it  applied, 
like  'Ofloi/i?,  to  cotton  cloth  likewise ;  and  although  both  of  these 
terms  probably  denoted  at  first  those  linen  cloths  only,  and  es- 
pecially the  finer  kinds  of  them,  which  were  made  in  Egypt, 
yet  as  the  manufacture  of  linen  extends  itself  into  other  coun- 
tries, and  the  exports  of  India  were  added  to  those  of  Egypt, 
all  varieties  either  of  linen  or  cotton  cloth,  wherever  woven, 
were  designated  by  the  Egyptian  names  '096vn  and  Hivfav. 

Another  term,  which  is  probably  of  Egyptian  origin,  and 
therefore  requires  explanation  here,  is  the  term  BiWos  or  Byssus. 
Vossius  (Etymol.  L.  hat.  v.  Byssus)  thinks  it  was,  as  Pollux 
and  Isidore  assert,  a  fine,  white,  soft  flax,  and  that  the  cloth 
made  from  it  was  like  the  modern  cambric :  "  Similis  fuisse 
videtur  lino  isti,  quod  vulgo  Cameracense  appellamus."  Cel- 
sius, in  his  Hierobotanicon  (vol.  ii.  p.  173.),  gives  the  same  ex- 

*  II.  i.  657.    Od.  v.  73.  118.  t  E.  g.  Martial, 

t  Jablonski,  ubi  supra,  p.  cclxxiv. 

47 


370 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


planation.  This  was  indeed  the  general  opinion  of  learned 
men,  until  J.  R.  Forster  advanced  the  position,  that  Byssus  was 
cotton.  A  careful  examination  of  the  question  confirms  the 
correctness  of  the  old  opinions,  and  for  the  following  reasons. 

I.  The  earliest  author,  who  uses  the  term,  is  iEschylus.  He 
represents  Antigone  wearing  a  shawl  or  sheet  of  fine  flax*.  In 
the  Bacchee  of  Euripides  (I.  776.)  the  same  garment,  which 
was  distinctive  of  the  female  sex,  is  introduced  under  the  same 
denomination.  We  cannot  suppose,  that  dramatic  writers 
would  mention  in  plays  addressed  to  a  general  audience  cloth- 
ing of  any  material  with  which  they  were  not  familiarly  ac- 
quainted. But  the  Greeks  in  the  time  of  iEschylus  and  Eu- 
ripides knew  little  or  nothing  of  cotton.  They  had,  however, 
been  long  supplied  with  fine  linen  from  Egypt  and  Phcenice  ; 
and  the  (3v<r<nvov  ^x^a  of  Antigone  is  the  same  article  of  female 
attire  with  the  dpysvval  oQovai  of  Helen,  described  by  Homer.  In- 
deed iEschylus  himself  in  two  other  passages  calls  the  same 
garment  linen.    In  the  Coephorae  (1.  25,  26.)  the  expressions, 

A.ivo(pd6poi  6'  v(pa<jfxdTO)V  \aKi6cg   and   Jlpoarepvoi  cro^[xol  7T£7rAa>y.    describe  the 

rents,  expressive  of  sorrow,  which  were  made  in  the  linen  veil 
or  shawl  (^Xos)  of  an  Oriental  woman.  In  the  Supplices  (I. 
120.)  the  leader  of  the  chorus  says,  she  often  tears  her  linen, 
or  her  JSidonian  veil 

II.  The  next  author  in  point  of  time,  and  one  of  the  first  in 
point  of  importance,  is  Herodotus.  In  his  account  of  the  mode 
of  making  mummies,  he  says  {I.  ii.  c.  86.)  the  embalmed  body 
was  enveloped  in  cotton.  But  the  fillets  or  bandages  of  the 
mummies  are  proved  by  microscopic  observations  to  be  univer- 
sally linen ;  at  least  all  the  specimens  have  been  found  to  be 
linen,  which  have  been  submitted  to  this,  the  only  decisive  test. 

III.  Herodotus  also  states  (vii.  181.),  that  a  man,  wounded  in 
an  engagement,  had  his  torn  limbs  bound  aivS6voS  /w^s  reKa^au 
Now,  supposing  that  the  persons  concerned  had  their  choice 
between  linen  and  cotton,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
would  choose  linen  as  most  suitable  for  such  a  purpose.  Cotton, 
when  applied  to  wounds,  irritates  them.    Julius  Pollux  men- 


*  Septem  contra  Thebas.  1.  1041.    See  also  Persse,  L  129. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


371 


tions  (7.  iv.  c.  20.  181. ;  I  vii.  c.  16.  and  25.  72.)  these  ban- 
dages as  used  in  surgery.  The  same  fillets,  which  were  used  to 
swathe  dead  bodies,  were  also  adapted  for  surgical  purposes. 
Hence  a  Greek  Epigram  (Brunch,  An.  hi.  1G9.)  represents  a 
surgeon  and  an  undertaker  as  leaguing  to  assist  each 
other  in  business.  The  undertaker  supplies  the  surgeon 
with  bandages  stolen  from  the  dead  bodies,  and  the  surgeon  in 
return  sends  his  patients  to  the  undertaker  ! 

IV.  Diodorus  Siculus  (I.  i.  §  85.  torn.  i.  p.  96.)  records  a  tra- 
dition, that  Isis  put  the  limbs  of  Osiris  into  a  wooden  cow,  cov- 
ered with  Byssina.  No  reason  can  be  imagined,  why  cotton 
should  have  been  used  for  such  a  purpose ;  whereas  the  use  of 
fine  linen  to  cover  the  hallowed  remains  was  in  perfect  accord- 
ance with  all  the  ideas  and  practices  of  the  Egyptians. 

V.  Plutarch,  in  his  Treatise  de  Iside  et  Osiride  (Opp.  ed. 
Stephani,  1572,  vol.  iv.  p.  653.)  says,  that  the  priests  envelop- 
ed the  gilded  bull,  which  represented  Osiris,  in  a  black  sheet  of 
Byssus.  Now  nothing  can  appear  more  probable,  than  that 
the  Egyptians  would  employ  for  this  purpose  the  same  kind  of 
cloth,  which  they  always  applied  to  sacred  uses ;  and  in  addi- 
tion to  all  the  other  evidence  before  referred  to,  we  find  Plutarch 
in  this  same  treatise  expressly  mentioning  the  linen  garments 
of  the  priesthood,  and  stating,  that  the  priests  were  entombed 
in  them  after  death,  a  fact  verified  at  the  present  day  by  the 
examination  of  the  bodies  of  priests  found  in  the  catacombs. 

VI.  The  magnificent  ship,  constructed  for  Ptolemy  Philopa- 
tor,  which  is  described  at  length  in  Atheneeus,  had  a  sail  of  the 
fine  linen  of  Egypt*.  It  is  not  probable,  that  in  a  vessel,  every 
part  of  which  was  made  of  the  best  and  most  suitable  mate- 
rials, the  sail  would  be  of  cotton.  Moreover  Hermippus  de- 
scribes Egypt  as  affording  the  chief  supply  of  sails  for  all  parts 
of  the  worldt :  and  Ezekiel  represents  the  Tyrians  as  obtaining 
cloth  from  Egypt  for  the  sails  and  pendants  of  their  ships!. 

VII.  It  is  recorded  in  the  Rosetta  Inscription  (I.  17,  18.),  that 


*  Deipnos.  1.  v.  p.  206  C.  ed.  Casaubon. 
t  Apud.  Athenaeum,  Deipnos.  1.  i.  p.  27  F. 
X  Ez.  xxvii.  7.  tP-msn  fiEpIS  EE. 


372 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


Ptolemy  Epiphanes  remitted  two  parts  of  the  fine  linen  cloths, 
which  were  manufactured  in  the  temples  for  the  king's  palace ; 
and  (L  29.)  that  he  also  remitted  a  tax  on  those,  which  were 
not  made  for  the  king's  palace.  Thus  in  an  original  and  con- 
temporary monument  we  read,  that  'Odovia  Pvawa  were  at  a  par- 
ticular time  manufactured  in  Egypt.  But  we  have  no  reason 
to  believe,  that  cotton  was  then  manufactured  in  Egypt  at  all, 
whereas  linen  cloth  was  made  in  immense  quantities. 

VIII.  Philo,  who  lived  at  Alexandria,  and  could  not  be  igno- 
rant upon  the  subject,  plainly  uses  Bwaos  to  mean  flax.  He 
s^ys,  the  Jewish  High-Priest  wore  a  linen  garment,  made  of  the 
purest  Byssus,  which  was  a  symbol  of  firmness,  incorruption, 
and  of  the  clearest  splendor,  since  fine  linen  is  most  difficult  to 
tear,  is  made  of  nothing  mortal,  and  becomes  brighter  and  more 
resembling  light,  the  more  it  is  cleansed  by  washing*. 

Here  we  may  notice  the  tenacity  of  the  cloth  found  iri 
Egyptian  mummies.  A  great  part  of  it  is  quite  rotten ;  and  its 
tender  and  fragile  state  is  to  be  accounted  for,  not  only  from  its 
great  antiquity  and  exposure  to  moisture,  but  from  the  circum- 
stance, that  much  of  it  was  old  and  worn,  when  first  applied  to 
the  purpose  of  swathing  dead  bodies.  Nevertheless  pieces  are 
found  of  great  strength  and  durability. 

Hans  Jac.  Amman,  who  visited  the  catacombs  of  Sakara  in 
1613,  found  the  bandages  so  strong,  that  he  was  obliged  to  cut 
them  with  scissorst.  Professor  Greavest  and  Lord  Sandwich 
found  them  as  firm  as  if  they  were  just  taken  from  the  loom. 
Abdollatiph,  who  visited  Egypt  A.  D.  1200,  mentions  that  the 
Arabs  employed  the  mummy  cloth  to  make  garments?.  Much 
more  recently  the  same  practice  has  been  attested  as  coming 
under  his  observation  by  Seetzenll.  Caillaud  discovered  in  the 
mummy,  which  he  opened,  several  napkins  in  such  a  state  of 
preservation,  that  he  took  a  fancy  to  use  one.  He  had  it  wash- 
ed eight  times  without  any  perceptible  injury.    "  With  a  sort 

*  De  Somniis,  vol.  i.  p.  653.  Mangey. 

t  Blumenbach's  Beitrage,  Th.  2.  p.  74.  \  Pyramidographia. 

§  P.  221  of  the  German  translation  ;  p.  198  of  Silvestre  de  Lacy's.  See  App.  A. 
II  See  his  letter  to  Von  Hammer  in  the  Fundgruben  des  Orients,  1  St.  p.  72. 
as  quoted  by  Blumenbach,  1.  c. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


373 


of  veneration  says  he,  "  I  unfolded  every  day  this  venerable 
linen,  which  had  been  woven  more  than  1700  years."  ( Voy- 
age a  Meroe  et  ait  Fleuve  Blanc.) 

IX.  According  to  Josephus  the  Jewish  priests  wore  drawers 
of  spun  flax,  and  over  the  drawers  a  shirt.  He  calls  a  garment 
made  of  IWos  a  linen  garment.  It  had  flowers  woven  into  it, 
which  were  of  three  different  substances*.  He  soon  after 
mentions  the  same  materials  as  used  for  making  the  curtains 
of  the  tabernacle.  In  all  these  instances  the  figures  or  orna- 
ments were  of  splendid  colors  upon  a  ground  of  white  linen. 
We  have  no  reason  to  believe,  that  either  the  Egyptians  or  the 
Israelites  in  the  time  of  Moses  knew  anything  of  cotton :  so 
that,  if  Josephus  gives  a  true  account,  Bvaaog  must  have  denoted 
a  kind  of  flax. 

X.  Jerome  on  Ezekiel  xxvii.  says,  "  Byssus  grows  principally 
in  Egypt"  (Byssus  in  JEgypto  quam  maxime  nascitur). 
Of  the  celebrity  of  the  Egyptian  flax  we  have  the  most  abun- 
dant proofs ;  but,  if  by  Byssus  Jerome  meant  cotton,  he  here 
committed  a  strange  mistake;  for,  supposing  cotton  to  have 
grown  at  all  in  Egypt,  it  certainly  grew  far  more  abundantly  in 
other  countries,  and  of  this  fact  he  could  scarcely  be  ignorant. 

XL  Martianus  Capella  plainly  distinguishes  between  that 
substance  and  Byssust.  He  seems  to  have  considered  cotton 
as  an  Indian,  Byssus  as  an  Egyptian  product.  He  certainly 
supposed,  that  they  were  not  the  same  thing. 

XII.  Isidorus  Hispalensis  expressly  states,  that  Byssus  was 
a  kind  of  flax,  very  white  and  soft. 

Byssus  genus  est  quoddam  lini  nimium  candidi  et  mollissimi,  quod  Graeci  papa- 
tem  vocant. — Orig.  I.  xix.  27. 

Byssina  (vestis)  Candida,  confecta  ex  quodam  genere  lini  grossioris  Sunt  et  qui 
genus  quoddam  lini  byssum  esse  existiment. — Ibid.  c.  22. 

Forster  conjectures  (p.  4.)  that  for  genus  quoddam  lini  we 
should  read  genus  quoddam  lana,  and  conceives  tree-wool  (as 

*  Ant.  Jud.  iii.  7.  1,  2.  p.  112.  ed.  Hudson. 

The  shirt  of  the  High  Priest  of  the  Jews  was  probably  like  that  worn  in  the 
worship  of  Isis,  which  was  of  Byssus,  but  adorned  with  flowers,  "  Byssina,  sed 
floride  depicta."    Apuleius,  Met.  1.  xi. 

t  Etym.  L.  Lat.  v.  Byssus. 


374 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


Pollux  and  some  others  call  it),  i.  e.  cotton,  to  be  intended.  His 
conjecture  seems  probable.  The  remark  of  Isidore  intimates, 
that  in  his  time  it  had  already  been  a  matter  of  dispute  whether 
Byssus  was  a  kind  of  flax  or  something  else. 

XIII.  Paulinus,  Bishop  of  Nola,  testifies  to  the  great  strength 
of  the  threads  of  Byssus. 

Cloth  made  of  Byssus  indicates  firm  faith  : 

For  threads  of  Byssus,  it  is  said,  surpass 

E'en  ropes  of  broom  in  firmness  and  in  strength*. 

Ad  Cytherium  in  Max.  Biblioth.  Patrum,  vol.  vi.  p.  264. 

Vossius  also  quotes  the  authority  of  Jerome  and  Eucherius 
to  prove  the  great  tenacity  of  Byssus.  But,  if  Byssus  were 
cotton,  it  certainly  would  not  have  been  celebrated  on  that 
account. 

The  arguments  of  Dr.  J.  R.  Forster  on  the  other  side  of  the 
question  will  now  be  considered.  See  his  Liber  Singularis 
de  Bysso  Antiquorum,  Lon.  1776,  p.  11.  50. 

I.  His  first  argument  is  as  follows.  Julius  Pollux  says 
(I.  vii.  c.  17.),  that  Bvwos  was  "  a  kind  of  flax  among  the  In- 
dians." The  Jewish  rabbis  indeed  all  explain  the  Hebrew 
(Shesh),  which  in  the  Septuagint  is  always  translated  Bwaos7  as 
signifying  flax.  But  they  use  the  term  for  flax  in  so  loose  and 
general  a  way,  that  they  may  very  properly  be  supposed  to  have 
included  cotton  under  it.  In  the  same  general  sense  we  must 
suppose  \(vov  to  be  used  by  Julius  Pollux ;  and  it  is  clear,  that 
he  must  have  meant  cotton,  because  cotton  grows  abundantly 
in  India,  whereas  flax  was  never  known  to  grow  in  India  at  all. 

In  proof  of  this  last  assertion  Forster  refers  to  Osbeck's  Jour- 
nal, vol  i.  p.  383.  He  also  appeals  to  a  passage  of  Philostratus 
( Vita  Apollonii,  I.  ii.  c.  20.  p.  70,  71.),  which  has  been  quoted 
in  Part  Third,  p.  328.,  where  that  author  certainly  applies  the 
term  in  question  to  the  cotton  of  India. 

An  answer  to  this  argument,  so  far  as  it  depends  on  the  testi- 
mony of  Julius  Pollux,  was  furnished  by  Olaus  Celsius  in  his 
Hierobotanicon,  published  in  1747,  a  work  which  Forster  had 
better  have  consulted,  when  he  was  writing  a  treatise  expressly 


*  See  Part  First,  Chapters  XII.  and  XIII. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


375 


intended  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  one  of  the  botanical  terms 
employed  in  the  Scriptures.  The  learned  and  accurate  Swede 
gives  on  good  authority  an  emendation  of  the  text  of  Pollux, 
which  entirely  destroys  the  argument  founded  upon  it  by  Forster 
and  those  who  agree  with  him.  According  to  this  reading 
Pollux  only  asserts  that  Bvwos  is  a  kind  of  flax,  without  adding 
that  it  grew  among  the  Indians*.  In  a  separate  Appendix  (E.), 
will  be  examined  distinctly  and  fully  the  critical  evidence  for 
the  correct  state  of  the  passages  of  Pollux,  which  it  may  be 
found  necessary  to  cite.  Pollux,  in  asserting  that  Byssus  was 
a  kind  of  flax,  coincides  with  all  the  other  witnesses  who  have 
been  produced. 

Forster  is  also  exceedingly  incorrect  in  his  mode  of  reasoning 
upon  the  passage  of  Pollux,  supposing  it  to  be  accurate  and 
genuine.  He  argues,  that  Pollux  must  have  meant  cotton  by 
"  a  kind  of  flax  among  the  Indians"  because  real  flax  does 
not  grow  in  India  at  all ;  "  In  India  verd  linum  non  erat,  nec 
quidem  nostra  setate  linum  reperitur  in  India,  quod  jam  Osbeck- 
ius  in  Itinerario  ostendit,  p.  383.  vol.  i.  edit.  Anglicee."  The 
"  English  edition1''  of  Osbeck's  Voyage  is  a  translation  from 
the  German  by  Forster  himself.  In  the  page  referred  to  we 
find  the  following  passage  relative  to  flax,  and  no  other : — 
"  Flax  is  so  rare  a  commodity  in  the  East,  that  many  have 
judged  with  great  probability  that  the  fine  linen  of  the  rich 
man,  Luke  xvi.  19,  was  no  more  than  our  common  linen." 
This  sentence  implies  that  flax  grew  in  the  East,  though 
rarely.  Whether  it  grew  in  India,  Osbeck  does  not  inform  us. 
Dr.  Wallich,  who  travelled  in  India,  states  that  flax  grows  in 
India,  and  that  he  remembered  having  seen  there  a  whole  field 
blue  with  its  flowers.  It  is  cultivated  principally  for  its  seed, 
from  which  oil  is  extracted,  the  stalks  being  thrown  aside  as 
useless. 

With  respect  to  the  passage  from  Philostratus,  it  is  admitted, 
that  he  uses  BtWo?  to  denote  cotton.  Besides  its  proper  and 
original  sense,  this  word  was  occasionally  used,  as  AtVoi/,  696^^ 
Sindofi,  Carbasus,  and  many  others  were,  in  a  looser  and  more 


*  Celsii  Hierobot.  vol.  ii.  p.  171 


376 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


general  application.  But  the  use  of  the  term  in  this  manner 
by  a  single  writer,  or  even,  if  they  could  be  produced,  by  several 
writers  of  so  late  an  age  as  Philostratus,  would  be  of  little 
weight  in  opposition  to  the  evidence,  which  has  been  brought 
forward  to  prove,  that  Booms  properly  meant  flax  only. 

II.  Forster  produces  a  passage  from  the  Eliaca  of  Pausanias* 
from  which  he  argues,  that  pfovos  was  not  flax,  because  Pausa- 
nias here  distinguishes  it  from  flax  as  well  as  from  hemp. 

But  we  know,  that  all  plants  undergo  great  changes  by  cul- 
tivation and  in  consequence  of  the  varieties  of  soil  and  climate. 
What  can  be  more  striking  than  the  innumerable  tulips  derived 
from  the  original  yellow  tulip  of  Turkey,  or  all  the  varieties  of 
pinks  and  carnations  from  a  single  species  ?  To  make  all  the 
descriptions  of  cloth  from  the  coarsest  canvass  or  sail-cloth  to 
the  most  beautiful  lawn  or  cambric,  there  must  have  been,  as 
there  now  are,  great  differences  in  the  living  plant.  The  best 
explanation  therefore  of  the  language  of  Pausanias  seems  to  be, 
that  he  used  Uvov  to  denote  the  common  kind  of  flax,  and  /Woff 
to  signify  a  finer  varietyt.  In  another  passage,  where  he 
speaks  of  the  Elean  Byssus,  his  language  shows,  that  its  pecu- 
liar excellence  consisted  both  in  its  fineness  and  in  its  beautiful 
yellow  color ;  for  after  expressing  the  admiration,  to  which  this 
substance  was  entitled,  as  growing  nowhere  else  in  Greece,  he 
says,  that  u  in  fineness  it  was  not  inferior  to  that  of  the  He- 
brews, but  was  not  equally  yellowt." 

It  may  further  be  remarked  in  opposition  to  the  idea,  that 
Pvco-os  meant  cotton  in  these  passages,  that  there  is  not  the 
slightest  ground  for  supposing,  that  cotton  was  cultivated  either 

*  Paus.  1.  vi.  cap.  §  4. 

t  Pausanias  also  distinguishes  between  \ivov  and  Pva-a-os  in  his  account  of  the 
clothing  of  a  reputed  statue  of  Neptune,  1.  vi.  c.  25.  §  5.  When  flax  is  raised  to 
be  manufactured  into  cambric  and  fine  lawn,  twice  as  much  seed  is  sown  in  the 
same  space  of  ground.  The  plants  then  grow  closer  together ;  the  stalks  are 
more  delicate  and  slender ;  and  the  fibres  of  each  plant  are  finer  in  proportion. 

t  L.  v.  5.  §  2. 

Others  commend  Byssus  on  account  of  its  whiteness.  See  Philo.  Apoc.  xix.  14. 
Themistius  (Orat.  p.  57.  ed.  Paris,  1684.  p.  68.  ed.  Dindorfii,  Lips.  1832.)  saw  at 
Antioch  "  ancient  letters  wrapt  in  white  Byssus"  These,  he  says,  were  brought 
from  Susa  and  Ecbatana. 


THH  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


377 


in  Elis  or  in  any  other  part  of  Europe  so  early  as  the  time  of 
Pausanias,  nor  indeed  until  a  comparatively  recent  age. 

III.  Forster  (p.  69-71.)  considers  the  testimony  of  Herodo- 
tus, that  the  embalmed  bodies  of  the  dead  were  wrapt  in  fillets 
of  Byssus,  as  decisive  in  favor  of  his  opinion,  because  those  fil- 
lets are  found  on  examination  to  be  all  cotton.  It  is  presumed 
that  the  preceding  testimony,  proves  that  so  far  as  they  have 
been  examined,  in  the  only  way  which  can  settle  the  dispute, 
they  are  found  universally  to  be  linen. 

Of  Forster's  celebrated  work  it  may  be  observed  in  general, 
that  he  rather  from  the  very  beginning  assumes  his  point, 
than  endeavors  to  prove  it.  He  continually  speaks  of  it  as 
demonstrated.  Nevertheless  the  only  arguments  which  can  be 
found  in  his  book,  are  those  already  stated.  Little  as  these  ar- 
guments amount  to  in  opposition  to  the  evidence,  which  has 
now  been  brought  forward  on  the  other  side  of  the  question,  we 
find  that  the  most  learned  authors  since  Forster's  time,  and  es- 
pecially since  the  same  opinion  was  embraced  by  Blumenbach, 
have  generally  been  content  to  adopt  it.  But,  although  such 
eminent  names  as  those  of  Porson*,  Dr.  Thomas  Youngt,  Mr. 
Hamilton!,  Dr.  T.  M.  Harris§,  Mr.  Wellbelovedll,  E.  H.  Barker!, 
Dr.  A.  Granville**,  Jomardtt,  WehrsU,  J.  H.  Voss§§,  Heerenlill, 
Sprengeimr,  Billerbeck***,  Geseniusttf,  E.  F.  K.  Rosenmul- 
lerUt,  and  Roselini§§§,  stand  arrayed  against  the  evidence  now 

*  In  his  translation  of  the  Rosetta  Inscription,  Clarke's  Greek  Marbles,  p.  63 
t  Account  of  Discoveries  in  Hieroglyphic  Literature,  p.  101.  114. 
X  ^gyptiaca,  p.  321. 

§  Natural  History  of  the  Bible,  2nd  edition,  p.  447. 

||  Translation  of  the  Bible,  Gen.  xli.  42. 

IT  Classical  Recreations. 

**  As  quoted  at  p.  364. 

tt  Description  des  Hypoge'es,  p.  35. 

XX  Vom  Papier,  p.  201. 

§§  Virgil's  Landliche  Gedichte,  iii.  p.  313. 

llll  Ideen  iiber  die  Politik,  &c 

1T1T  Historia  Rei  Herbaria^,  torn.  i.  c.  i.  p.  15. 

***  Flora  Classica,  p.  177. 

ttt  Thesaurus  Philologico-Criticus,  v.  £13. 

XXX  Biblische  Alterthumskunde,  4.  1.  p.  175. 

§§§  Monumenti  dell'  Egitto.  Mon.  Civili,  tomo.  i.  Pisa,  1834,  capo.  iv.  §  6. 

48 


378 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


produced,  i.  e.  to  prove  that  {H™n  meant  flax  and  not  cotton,  as 
those  authors  have  supposed.  Yet  their  evidence  may  be  con- 
sidered as  going  all  for  nothing,  because  they  express  not  their 
own  opinion  formed  by  independent  inquiry  and  investigation, 
but  merely  the  opinion  which  they  have  adopted  from  Forster 
and  Blumenbach. 

There  is,  however,  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  Forster  is  right 
in  considering  Bv<rcoS}  or  Byssus,  as  an  Egyptian  word  with  a 
Greek  or  Latin  termination.  In  the  Septuagint  version  it  is  al- 
ways used  as  equivalent  to  the  Hebrew  w  (Shesh  or  Ses), 
which  according  to  the  Hebrew  Rabbis  was  a  kind  of  flax,  that 
grew  in  Egypt  only  and  was  of  the  finest  quality*.  Another 
term,  used  in  the  Pentateuch  for  linen  cloth  is  ^  (bad),  which 
seems  to  be  nearly  the  same  as  W.  The  Egyptian  term  or 
sin  (puts)  is  very  seldom  found  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and 
not  until  the  intercourse  became  frequent  between  the  Jews 
and  other  oriental  nations.  But  it  is  continually  employed  by 
the  Arabic,  Persic,  and  Chaldee  Translators,  as  equivalent  to 
the  Hebrew  terms  TO  and 

The  distinction  between  Bwaos  and  the  Egyptian  terms  for- 
merly explained  is  very  obvious.  $u>awv,  'Oflo^,  and  Ziv86v  deno- 
ted linen  cloth;  Bvaaos  the  plant,  from  which  it  was  made. 
Hence  we  so  commonly  find  the  adjective  form  Bvaaivos  or  Bys- 
sinus,  i.  e.  made  of  Byssus,  as  in  <w  Pwaivrj,  'OOovri  /w^,  'Odovia 
Pvaaiva,  Hr6\r)  Pvacnvr),  &c,  and  this  is  agreeable  to  the  remark  of  the 
Patriarch  Photius  in  his  192nd  Epistle,  $vrov  sz  n  pvacog,  "  Byssus 
is  a  plant." 

Herodotus  (ii.  105.),  pointing  out  resemblances  between  the 
Egyptians  and  the  Colchians,  says,  they  prepare  their  flax  in 
the  same  manner,  and  in  a  manner  which  is  practiced  by  no  other 
nation.  Xenophon  directs,  that  nets  should  be  made  of  flax  from 
the  Phasis,  or  from  Carthaget.  Pollux  (Z.  v.  cap.  4.  §  26.)  says, 

*  Forster  De  Bysso,  p.  5. 

t  De  Venat.  ii.  4.  Gratius  Faliscus,  in  his  directions  on  the  same  subject,  rec- 
ommends the  flax  from  the  rich  moist  plains  about  the  river  Ciuyps,  not  very  far 
from  Carthage. 

Optima  Cinyphiae,  ne  quid  contere,  paludes 
Lina  dabunt. — Cynegeticon,  34,  35. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE.  379 

that  the  flax  for  the  same  purpose  should  be  either  from  those 
countries,  or  from  Egypt  or  Sardes.  Callimachus  {Frag.  265.) 
mentions  the  flax  of  Colchis  under  the  name  of  "  the  Colchian 
halm."  Strabo  (I.  xi.  §  17.  vol.  iv.p.  402.  Tschuz.)  testifies  to  the 
celebrity  of  Colchis  for  the  growth  and  manufacture  of  flax, 
and  says,  that  the  linen  of  this  country  was  exported  to  distant 
places. 

It  seems  still  to  maintain  its  ancient  pre-eminence :  Larcher 
refers  to  Chardin  (torn.  i.  p.  115.),  as  saying,  that  the  Prince  of 
Mingrelia,  a  part  of  the  ancient  Colchis,  paid  in  his  time  an 
annual  tribute  of  linen  to  the  Turks. 

That  flax  was  extensively  cultivated  in  Babylonia  appears 
from  the  testimony  of  Herodotus,  who  says  (i.  195.),  that  the 
Babylonians  wore  a  linen  shirt  reaching  to  the  feet ;  over  that 
a  woollen  shirt ;  and  over  that  a  white  shawl.  Strabo  (I.  xvi. 
cap.  1.  p.  739.  ed.  Casaub.)  shows  where  these  linen  shirts 
were  chiefly  made ;  for  he  informs  us  that  Borsippa,  a  city  of 
Babylonia,  sacred  to  Apollo  and  Diana,  was  a  great  place  for 
the  manufacture  of  linen. 

The  cultivation  of  flax  in  the  region  of  the  Euphrates  may 
also  be  inferred  from  the  use  of  the  linen  thorax,  as  attested  by 
Xenophon  (Cyropedia,  vi.  4.  2.). 

From  Joshua  ii.  6.  we  have  evidence,  that  flax  was  cultivated 
in  Palestine  near  the  Jordan.  Rahab  concealed  the  two  He- 
brew spies  (according  to  the  common  English  version)  "with 
the  stalks  of  flax,  which  she  had  laid  in  order  upon  the  roof." 
According  to  the  Septuagint  translation,  "  the  stalks  of  flax" 
were  not  merely  "  laid  in  order,"  but  "  stacked."  Josephus  says, 
she  was  drying  the  bundles.  The  Chaldee  Paraphrast  On- 
kelos  also  uses  the  expression  &orD  bundles  of  flax. 

Agreeably  to  these  explanations,  the  history  must  be  understood 
as  implying,  that  the  stalks  of  flax,  tied  into  bundles,  as  repre- 
sented in  the  painting  at  El  Kab*,  were  stacked,  probably  cross  - 
ways,  upon  the  flat  roof  of  Ahab's  house,  so  as  to  allow  the 
wind  to  blow  through  and  dry  them. 

Other  passages,  referring  to  the  use  of  flax  for  weaving  in 


*  See  Plate  vi.  p.  358. 


380 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


Palestine,  are  Levit.  xiii.  47,  48.  52.  59,  where  linen  garments 
are  four  times  mentioned  in  opposition  to  woollen. 

Proverbs  xxi.  13.  The  virtuous  woman,  so  admirably  de- 
scribed in  this  chapter,  "  seeketh  wool  and  flax,  and  worketh. 
willingly  with  her  hands."  (See  Part  First,  Chapter  I.  p.  13.). 
This  proves,  that  flax  was  still  an  important  article  of  cultiva- 
tion in  Palestine. 

In  1  Chron.  iv.  21.  there  is  an  allusion  to  a  great  establish- 
ment for  dressing  the  fine  flax,  called  Butz,  or  Byssus.  It 
was  conducted  by  certain  families  of  the  tribe  of  Judah*. 

Jeremiah  (xiii.  1.)  mentions  c^nuja  mta,  "  a  linen  girdle 
Lumbare  lineum,  Vulgate  ;  ^'^a  \ivovv  LXX.  th^i  nt  Jona- 
than ;  fcuin^  anna  (sudarium)  Syriac. 

Hosea  (ii.  5.  9.)  mentions  wool  and  flax  as  the  two  chief  ar- 
ticles of  clothing  for  the  Jews  in  his  time. 

Ezekiel  (xliv.  17,  18.),  in  his  description  of  the  temple  which 
he  saw  in  vision,  says,  the  priests  on  entering  the  inner  court 
would  put  on  linen  garments,  including  a  turban  and  drawers 
of  linenf.  The  use  of  wool  is  here  prohibited  and  linen  pre- 
scribed for  those  who  were  to  be  engaged  in  sacred  services,  on 
account  of  its  superior  cleanliness  and  purity.  They  were  not 
to  "gird  themselves  with  anything  that  causeth  sweat."  On 
returning  to  the  outer  court,  so  as  to  be  in  contact  with  the 
people,  they  were  to  put  on  the  common  dress,  which  was  at 
least  in  part  woollen. 

In  the  Old  Testament  we  also  find  flax  used  for  making 
cords,  Judges  xv.  xvi. ;  for  the  wicks  of  lamps.  Is.  xiii.  17. ; 
and  for  a  measuring  line,  Ezek.  xl.  3t 

According  to  Herodotus  vii.  25,  34,  36,  the  Phoenicians  fur- 
nished Xerxes  with  ropes  of  flax  for  constructing  his  bridge, 


*  Hebr.  !P^n  h*py"tY£l  i.  e.  "  the  families,  or  perhaps  the  partnerships, 

of  the  manufactory  of  Byssus  ;"  Vulg.  "  Cognationes  domus  operantium  bys- 
fium." 

t  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Chaldee  Paraphrast  Jonathan  here  uses  5W3  (bys- 
sus) for  the  Hebrew  D*»Fiflj*p. 

t  The  use  of  the  cord  of  flax  {lined)  for  measuring,  &c.  is  the  origin  of  the 
word  line.  "  Linea  genere  suo  appellata,  quia  ex  lino  fit."  Isidori  Hisp.  Etymol. 
L  xix.  c.  18.    De  instrumentis  aedificiorum. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


381 


while  the  Egyptians  supplied  ropes  of  Papyrus,  which  were  in- 
ferior to  the  others  in  strength. 

Whilst  ras,  derived  probably  from  attS,  to  strip  or  peel,  is 
used  for  flax  in  every  state,  we  find  another  term,  rti3>3,  used  for 
tow.  This  term  therefore  corresponds  to  Stuppa  in  Latin* ; 
Etoupe  in  French ;  Greek;  anpnn,  from 

p"iD,  to  comb,  in  Syriac  ;  Werg  in  modern  German. 

Eccles.  xl.  4.  represents  poor  persons  as  clothed  in  coarse  linen, 
(Lino  crudo,  Jerome),  meaning  probably  flax  dressed 
and  spun  without  having  been  steepedt. 

In  Rev.  xv.  6.  the  seven  angels  come  out  of  the  temple 
clothed  "  in  pure  and  white  linen?  This  is  to  be  explained 
by  what  has  been  already  said  of  the  use  of  linen  for  the  temple 
service  among  the  Egyptians  and  the  Jews.  On  three  other 
occasions  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  viz.  the  case  of 
the  young  man,  who  had  "  a  linen  cloth  cast  about  his  naked 
body"  {Mark  xiv.  51,  52.) ;  the  entombment  of  Christ  {Matt. 
xxvii.  59.  Mark  xv.  46.  Luke  xxiii.  53.  xxiv.  12.  John 
xix.  40.  xx.  5,  6,  7.) ;  and  the  case  of  the  "  sheet "  let  down  in 
vision  from  heaven  {Acts  x.  11.  xi.  5.),  the  sacred  writers  employ 
the  equivalent  Egyptian  terms,  Eiv6av,  and  ,096vr}  or  'Oddviov. 

The  "  Byssus  of  the  Hebrews,"  mentioned  by  Pausanias  may 
have  been  so  called,  because  it  was  imported  into  Greece  by  the 
Hebrews,  not  because  it  grew  in  Palestine,  as  many  critics  have 
concluded. 

Herodotus  {I.  c.)  observes,  that  the  Greeks  called  the  Colchian 
flax  EapSoviKdv.  The  epithet  must  be  understood  as  referring  to 
Sardes,  from  the  vicinity  of  which  city  flax  wTas  obtained  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  Julius  Pollux  (I.  c).  In  another 
passage  Herodotus  remarks  (v.  87.),  that  the  linen  shift  worn 
by  the  Athenian  women,  was  originally  Carian.  The  Milesian 
Sindones,  mentioned  by  Jonathan,  the  Chaldee  Paraphrast,  on 


*  The  origin  of  Stuppa,  the  Latin  term,  was  from  its  use  in  stopping  chinks 
(stopfer,  German).    It  was  either  of  hemp  or  flax. 

"  Stuppa  cannabi  est  sive  lini.  Hasc  secundum  antiquam  orthographiam  stup- 
pa (stipa  ?)  dicitur,  quod  ex  ea  rimse  navium  stipentur :  unde  et  stipatores  dicun- 
tur,  qui  in  vallibus  earn  componunt.'"    Isid.  Hisp.  Orig.  xix.  27. 

t  See  Bodseusa  Stapel  on  Theophrasti  Hist.  Plant.  1.  viii.  p.  944. 


382 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 


Lam.  ii.  20,  were,  no  doubt,  made  of  the  flax  of  this  country, 
although  Forster  [De  Bysso,  p.  92.),  on  account  of  the  celebrity 
of  the  Milesian  wool,  supposes  them  to  have  been  woollen.  It 
is  probable,  that  the  Milesian  net  caps,  worn  by  ladies,  were 
made  of  linen  thread. 

Jerome,  describing  the  change  from  an  austere  to  a  luxurious 
mode  of  life,  mentions  shirts  from  Laodicea.  Some  commen- 
tators have  supposed  linen  shirts  to  be  meant. 

According  to  Julius  Pollux  (vii.  c.  16.)  the  Athenians  and 
Ionians  wore  a  linen  shirt  reaching  to  the  feet.  But  the  use  of 
it  among  the  Athenians  must  have  come  in  much  later  than 
among  the  Ionians,  who  would  adopt  the  practice  in  conse- 
quence of  the  cultivation  of  flax  in  their  own  country  as  well 
as  in  their  colonies  on  the  Euxine  Sea,  and  also  in  consequence 
of  the  general  elegance  and  refinement  of  their  manners. 
Indeed  it  appears  probable,  that  the  linen  used  by  the  Athenians 
was  imported. 

The  only  part  of  Greece,  where  flax  is  recorded  to  have  been 
grown,  was  Elis.  That  it  was  produced  in  that  country  is 
affirmed  by  Pliny  xix.  c.  4.),  and  by  Pausanias  in  three  pas- 
sages already  quoted. 

When  Colonel  Leake  was  at  Gastuni  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Peneus  in  Elis,  he  made  the  following  observations. 

For  flax  (one  of  the  chief  things  produced  there)  the  land  is  once  ploughed  in 
the  spring,  and  two  or  three  times  in  the  ensuing  autumn,  with  a  pair  of  oxen, 
when  the  seed  is  thrown  in  and  covered  with  the  plough.  The  plant  does  not 
require  and  hardly  admits  of  weeding,  as  it  grows  very  thick.  When  ripe,  it  is 
pulled  up  by  the  roots,  and  laid  in  bundles  in  the  sun.  It  is  then  threshed  to  sep- 
arate the  seed.  The  bundles  are  laid  in  the  river  for  five  days,  then  dried  in  the 
sun,  and  pressed  in  a  wooden  machine.  Contrary  to  its  ancient  reputation,  the 
flax  of  Gastuni  is  not  very  fine.  It  is  chiefly  used  in  the  neighboring  islands  by 
the  peasants,  who  weave  it  into  cloths  for  their  own  use*. 

In  one  of  the  Pseudo-Platonic  Epistles  (No.  xiii.  p.  363.) 
mention  occurs  of  linen  shifts  for  ladies,  made  in  Sicily,  which 
certainly  implies  nothing  more  than  that  linen  was  woven  in 
Sicily.  The  material  for  making  it  may  have  been  imported. 
In  like  manner  the  linen  of  Malta  was  exceedingly  admired 


*  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  the  Morea,  vol.  i.  p.  12. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


383 


for  its  fineness  and  softness*  ;  but  the  raw  material  was  in  all 
probability  imported. 

"  Flax,"  observes  Professor  Muller,  "  was  grown  and  manu- 
factured in  Southern  Etruria  from  ancient  times,  and  thus  the 
Tarquinii  were  enabled  to  furnish  sail-cloth  for  the  fleet  of 
iScipio :  yarn  for  making  nets  was  produced  on  the  banks  of 
the  Tiber,  and  fine  linen  for  clothing  in  Faleriit."  This  ac- 
count agrees  remarkably  with  the  views  of  Micali,  and  those 
historians  who  maintain  the  Egyptian  origin  of  the  Etrurians. 

Pliny  (xix.  1,  2.)  mentions  various  kinds  of  flax  of  superior 
excellence,  which  were  produced  in  the  plains  of  the  Po  and 
Ticino ;  in  the  country  of  the  Peligni  (in  Picenum) ;  and  about 
Cumae  in  Campania!.  No  flax,  he  says,  was  whiter  or  more 
like  wool  than  that  of  the  Peligni. 

In  the  next  chapter  Pliny  gives  an  account  of  the  mode  of 
preparing  flax ;  plucking  it  up  by  the  roots,  tying  it  into  bun- 
dles, drying  it  in  the  sun,  steeping,  drying  again,  beating  it  with 
a  mallet  on  a  stone,  and  lastly  hackling  it,  or,  as  he  says, 
"  combing  it  with  iron  hooks?  This  may  be  compared  with 
the  preceding  extract  from  Colonel  Leake's  Journal,  and  with 
chapter  97  of  Bartholomeeus  Anglicus,  De  Proprietabus  Rerum, 
which  is  perhaps  partly  copied  from  Pliny  and  treats  of  the 
manufacture  of  flax,  steeping  it  in  water,  &c,  and  of  its  use 
for  clothes,  nets,  sails,  thread,  and  curtains. 

In  Spain  there  was  a  manufacture  of  linen  at  Emporium, 
which  lay  on  the  Mediterranean  not  far  from  the  Pyrenees?. 
According  to  Pliny  (I.  c.)  remarkably  beautiful  flax  was  produ- 
ced in  Hispania  Citerior  near  Tarraco.  He  ascribes  its  splendor 
to  the  virtues  of  the  river- water  flowing  near  Tarraco,  in  which 
the  flax  was  steeped  and  prepared.  Still  further  southward  on 
the  same  coast  we  find  Setabis,  the  modern  Xativa,  which  is 
celebrated  by  various  authors  for  the  beauty  of  its  linen,  and 
especially  for  linen  sudaria,  or  handkerchiefs  : 

*  Diod.  Sic.  1.  v.  12.  torn.  i.  p.  339.  ed.  Wesseling. 
t  Etrusker.  vol.  i.  p.  235,  236. 

t  Probably  Cumae  is  intended  by  Gratius  Faliscus  in  the  expression  "  iEolise 
de  valle  Sibyillae."— Cyneg.  35. 

§  Strabo,  1.  iii.  cap.  4.  vol.  i.  p.  428.  ed.  Siebenkees. 


384  ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF 

Setabis  et  telas  Arabum  sprevisse  superba 
Et  Pelusiaco  filum  componere  lino. 

Silius  Ital.  iii.  373. 
Nam  sudaria  Setaba  ex  Hiberis 
Miserunt  mihi  muneri  Fabullus 
Et  Veranius. — Catullus,  xx.  14. 
Hispanaeque  alio  spectantur  Setabis  usu. 

Gratius  Faliscus,  1.  41. 

Pliny  also  mentions  a  kind  of  flax,  called  Zoelicum,  from  a 
place  in  Gallicia. 

Strabo  (iv.  2.  2.  p.  41.  ed.  Sieb.)  particularly  mentions  the 
linen  manufacture  of  the  Cadurci :  and  from  them  the  Romans 
obtained  the  best  ticking  for  beds,  which  was  on  this  account 
'  called  Cadurcum. 

Flax,  as  we  are  told  by  Pliny  (xix.  1.),  was  woven  into  sail- 
cloth in  all  paints  of  Gaul ;  and,  in  some  of  the  countries  be- 
yond the  Rhine,  the  most  beautiful  apparel  of  the  ladies  was 
linen.  Tacitus  states  that  the  women  of  Germany  wore  linen 
sheets  over  their  other  clothing*. 

Jerome  mentions  the  shirts  of  the  Atrebates  as  one  of  the 
luxuries  of  his  day,  and  his  notice  of  them  seems  to  show,  that 
they  were  conveyed  as  an  article  of  merchandize  even  into 
Asia. 

Whether  the  manufactures  of  the  Atrebates  were  equal  to 
the  modern  Cambric  we  cannot  say ;  but,  supposing  the  gar- 
ments in  question  to  have  been  linen,  it  is  remarkable  that  this 
manufacture  should  have  flourished  in  Artois  for  1800  yearsf. 

The  following  translation  of  a  passage  from  Eginhart's  Life 

*  Fceminae  seepiiis  lineis  amictibus  velantur. — Germania,  xvii.  5.  The  use  of 
the  same  term  for  Flax  in  so  many  European  languages,  and  especially  in  those 
of  the  North  of  Europe,  is  an  evidence  of  the  extensive  use  of  this  substance  in 
very  early  times ;  e.  g.  Greek,  Aivov  Latin,  Linum ;  Slavonian,  Len ;  Lithua- 
nian, Linnai ;  Lettish,  Linni ;  German,  Lein  ;  French,  Suio ;  Gothic,  and  Anglo- 
Saxon,  Lin  ;  Welsh,  Llin. 

t  Erasmus  makes  the  following  remarks  on  the  words  "  Atrebatum  et  Laodi- 
ceaB :" 

"  Apparet  ex  his  regionibus  candidissima  ac  subtilissima  linea  mitti  solere. 
Nunc  hujus  laudis  principatus,  si  tamen  ea  laus,  penes  meos  Hollandos  est.  Quan- 
quam  et  Atrebates  in  Belgis  haud  ita  procul  a  nobis  absunt." 

See  also  Mannert,  Geogr.  2. 1.  p.  196. 


THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 


385 


of  Charlemagne  (c.  23.)  shows,  that  during  several  succeeding 
centuries  the  Franks  wore  linen  for  their  under  garments. 

Vestitu  patrio,  hoc  est  Francisco  utebatur :  ad  corpus  camiseam  lineam,  et  fem- 
inalibus  lineis  induebatur :  deinde  tunicam,  quse  limbo  serico  ambiebatur,  et  tib- 

ialia  Sago  Veneto  amictus.    In  festivitatibus  veste  auro  texta,  et 

calceamentis  gemmatis,  et  fibula  aure&  sagum  astringente,  diademate  quoque  ex 
auro  et  gemmis  ornatus  incedebat.  Aliis  autem  diebus  habitus  ejus  parum  a  com- 
muni  et  plebeio  abhorrebat. 

Charles  drest  after  the  manner  of  his  countrymen,  the  Franks.  Next  to  the 
skin  he  wore  a  shirt  and  drawers  of  linen :  over  these  a  tunic  bordered  with  silk, 
and  breeches.  His  outer  garment  was  the  sagum,  manufactured  by  the  Veneti. 
On  occasion  of  festivals  he  wore  a  garment  interwoven  with  gold,  shoes  adorned 
with  gems,  a  golden  fibula  to  fasten  his  sagum,  and  a  diadem  of  gold  and  gems 
On  other  days  his  dress  differed  little  from  that  of  the  common  people*. 

The  Veneti  here  mentioned  were,  no  doubt,  the  people  who 
lived  in  the  country  near  Vannes  in  Britany.  We  have  for- 
merly seen  (Part  Second,  pp.  282  and  283.  Chapter  III.),  that 
the  Sagum  was  the  principal  article  of  dress  manufactured  in 
the  north  of  Gaul. 

According  to  Paulus  Diaconus,  as  quoted  in  the  notes  on  this 
passage  of  Eginhartt,  the  Lombards  and  the  Anglo-Saxons 
used  principally  linen  garments. 

Linen,  which  appears  to  have  been  originally  characteristic 
of  the  Egyptian  and  Germanic  nations,  came  by  degrees  into 
more  and  more  general  use  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
and  was  employed  not  only  for  articles  of  dress,  especially  those 
worn  by  women,  and  for  sheets  to  lie  upon,  but  also  for  table- 
covers  and  for  napkins  to  wipe  the  hands,  an  application  of 
them  which  was  the  more  necessary  on  account  of  the  want  of 
knives,  forks,  and  spoons.  Also  those  who  waited  at  table, 
were  girt  with  towels.  At  the  baths  persons  used  towels  to  dry 
themselves.  A  man  wore  a  similar  piece  of  cloth  under  the 
hands  of  the  tonsor.  Plutarch  ( On  Garrulity)  tells  the  follow- 
ing anecdote  of  Archelaus.  When  a  loquacious  hair-dresser 
was  throwing  the  d^Xivov  about  him  in  order  to  shear  him,  he 
asked  as  usual,  "  How  shall  I  cut  your  majesty's  hair?"    "  In 

*  The  trowsers  worn  by  the  Franks  were  sometimes  linen,  sometimes  made  of 
skins. — Agathias  ii.  5. 

t  Ed.  Schmincke,  Trajecti  1711,  p.  110. 

49 


386     ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  LINEN  MANUFACTURE. 

silence"  replied  the  king.  Alciphron  tells  of  the  barber  putting 
on  him  a  linen  cloth  (mi**)  in  order  to  shave  him  (/.  iii.  Ep. 
66.);  and  Phaneas,  in  an  Epigram,  calls  the  cloth  used  in 
shaving  by  the  same  name,  ZivSw.  Diogenes  Laertius  also  (vi. 
90.)  tells  a  story  respecting  the  philosopher  Crates,  which  shows 
that  at  Athens  it  was  not  deemed  proper  for  a  man  to  wear 
linen  as  an  outer  garment,  but  that  persons  were  enveloped  in 
it  under  the  hands  of  the  hair-dresser.  "  The  Athenian  police- 
officers  (oi  darwixoi)  having  charged  him  with  wearing  a  linen  sheet 
for  his  outer  garment,  he  said,  £  I  will  showT  you  Theophrastus 
himself  habited  in  that  manner and  when  they  doubted  the 
fact,  he  took  them  to  see  Theophrastus  at  the  hair-dresser's." 

Coarser  linen  was  used  in  great  quantity  both  for  sails,  and 
for  awnings  to  keep  off  the  heat  of  the  sun  from  the  Roman 
theatres,  the  Forum,  and  other  places  of  public  resort*. 

The  Emperor  Alexander  Severus,  as  we  learn  from  the  fol- 
lowing passage  of  his  Life  written  by  iElius  Lampridius,  was  a 
great  admirer  of  good  linen,  and  preferred  that  which  was  plain 
to  such  as  h&d  flowers  or  feathers  interwoven  as  practised  in 
Egypt  and  the  neighboring  countries. 

Boni  linteaminis  appetitor  fuit,  et  quidem  puri,  dicens,  1  Si  lintei  idcirco  sunt, 
ut  nihil  asperum  habeant,  quid  opus  est  purpura  V  In  linea  autem  aurum  mitti, 
etiam  dementiam  judicabat,  quum  asperitati  adderetur  rigor. 

He  took  great  delight  in  good  linen,  and  preferred  it  plain.  "  If,"  said  he,  "  lin- 
en cloths  are  made  of  that  material  in  order  that  they  may  not  be  at  all  rough, 
why  mix  purple  with  them  ?"  But  to  interweave  gold  in  linen,  he  considered 
madness,  because  this  made  it  rigid  in  addition  to  its  roughness. 

The  following  passage  of  the  Life  of  the  Emperor  Carinus 
by  Flavius  Vopiscus  is  remarkable  as  proving  the  value  attach- 
ed by  the  Romans  of  that  age  to  the  linen  imported  from 
Egypt  and  Phoenice,  especially  to  the  transparent  and  flowered 
varieties. 

Jam  quid  lineas  petitas  iEgypto  loquar  ?  Quid  Tyro  et  Sidone  tenuitate  per- 
lucidas,  micantes  purpura,  plumandi  difficultate  pernobiles  ? 

Why  should  I  mention  the  linen  cloths  brought  from  Egypt,  or  those  imported 
from  Tyre  and  Sidon,  which  are  so  thin  as  to  be  transparent,  which  glow  with 
purple,  or  are  prized  on  account  of  their  labored  embroidery  ? 

*  See  p.  321. 


CHAPTER  II. 


HEMP*. 


CULTIVATION  AND  USES  OF  HEMP  BY  THE  ANCIENTS  ITS  USE  LIMITED 

 THRACE — COLCHIS  CARTA  ETYMOLOGY  OF  HEMP. 

The  use  of  Hemp  among  the  ancients  was  very  limited.  It 
is  never  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures,  and  not  often  by  the 
heathen  writers  of  antiquity.  It  is  remarkable,  that  no  notice 
is  taken  of  it  by  Theophrastus.  It  was  however  used  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans  for  making  ropes  and  nets,  but  not  for 
sacks,  these  being  made  of  goats'-hairf . 

The  only  reason  for  introducing  hemp  in  this  enumeration 
is,  that,  according  to  Herodotus  (iv.  74.)  garments  were  made 
of  it  by  the  Thracians.  "  They  were  so  like  linen,"  says  he, 
"  that  none  but  a  very  experienced  person  could  tell  whether  they 
were  of  hemp  or  flax ;  one,  who  had  never  seen  hemp,  would 
certainly  suppose  them  to  be  linen."  The  coarser  kinds  of 
linen  would,  it  is  certain,  be  scarcely,  if  at  all  distinguishable 
from  the  finer  kinds  of  hempen  cloth. 

Hesychius  (v.  K&wa  Pis)  quotes  the  preceding  remark  of  He- 
rodotus, only  saying  that  the  Thracian  women  made  sheets  of 
hemp  (ipdrta).  In  substituting  these  expressions  he  puts  upon 
the  words  of  Herodotus  an  explanation  derived  from  his  famil- 
iar knowledge  of  Grecian  customs.  To  the  present  day  hemp 
is  produced  abundantly  in  the  vicinity  of  the  countries  which 
were  occupied  by  the  ancient  Thracians.  A  traveller  who  has 
lately  visited  them,  informs  us,  that  "  the  men  who  drive  the 


*  According  to  a  statement  in  the  Western  (Missouri)  Journal,  about  7,000 
bales  of  hemp,  the  crop  of  1844,  was  shipped  from  that  place  last  spring.  It  is 
thought  that  20,000  bales  will  be  raised  in  that  neighborhood  this  year  (1845). 

t  See  Chap.  IV.  p.  299,  301. 


388 


CULTIVATION  AND  USES  OF 


horses,  which  drag  the  boats  upon  the  Danube  between  Pest 
and  Vienna,  now  wear  coarse  tunics  of  hemp*. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus  (xxxi.  2.  p.  474.),  speaking  of  the 
Huns,  who  lived  beyond  the  Palus  Mseotis,  says, 

They  cover  themselves  with  tunics  made  of  linen,  or  of  the  skins  of  wild  mice 
sewed  together. 

These  tunics,  though  called  "  lintea,"  may  have  been  the 
hempen  garments,  which,  according  to  Herodotus,  were  scarce 
to  be  distinguished  from  linen. 

The  next  writer,  who  mentions  hemp  after  Herodotus,  is 
Moschion,  rather  more  than  200  years  B.  C.  He  statest,  that 
the  magnificent  ship  Syracusia,  built  by  the  command  of  Hiero 
II.,  was  provided  with  hemp  from  the  Rhone  for  making  ropes. 
The  common  materials  for  such  purposes  were  the  Egyptian 
Papyrus,  the  bark  of  the  Lime-tree,  of  the  Hemp-leaved 
Mallow,  and  of  the  Spanish  and  Portugal  Broom,  and 
probably  also  the  Stipa  Tenacissima  of  Linnaeus. 

Hemp,  as  well  as  flax,  was  grown  abundantly  in  ColchisJ. 
It  was  brought  to  the  ports  of  the  iEgean  Sea  by  the  Ionian 
merchants,  who  were  intimately  connected  with  the  northern 
and  eastern  coasts  of  the  Euxine  through  the  medium  of  the 
Milesian  colonies.  This  fact  may  account  for  the  cultivation  of 
hemp  in  Caria.  The  best  was  obtained  in  the  time  of  Pliny 
(I.  xix.  c.  9.)  from  Alabanda  and  Mylasa  in  that  country.  Pliny 
also  mentions  a  kind,  which  grew  in  the  country  of  the  Sabines, 
and  which  was  remarkable  for  its  height. 

Automedon,  who  lived  a  little  before  Pliny,  complains  in  an 
Epigram  of  a  bad  dinner  given  him  by  one  of  his  acquaintances, 
and  compares  the  tall  stringy  cabbages  to  hemp§.  As  this 
author  was  a  native  of  Cyzicus,  he  would  probably  have  abun- 
dant opportunities  of  becoming  familiar  with  the  plant. 

In  the  time  of  Pausanias  hemp  was  grown  in  Elis.  See  his 
Eliaca,  c.  26.  §  4. 


*  Travels  in  Circassia,  &c,  by  Edmund  Spencer,  1837,  vol.  i.  p.  13. 

t  Apud  Athenaeum,  L  v.  p.  206.  Casaub. 

}  Strabo,  L  xi.  §  17.  vol.  iv.  p.  402,  ed.  Siebenkees. 

§  Kavpa  pivt).    Brunck's  Analecta,  ii.  209. 


HEMP  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


389 


Dioscorides  (I.  iii.  c.  141.)  gives  an  account  of  hemp,  in  which 
he  distinguishes  between  the  cultivated  and  the  wild.  By 
Wild  Hemp  he  means  the  Althoeae  Cannabina,  Linn*.  He 
observes  respecting  the  Cultivated  Hemp,  by  which  he  meant 
proper  hemp,  the  Cannabis  Sativa,  Linn.,  that  it  was  "of  great 
use  for  twisting  the  strongest  ropes." 

On  the  whole  we  may  conclude,  that  hemp  was  not  the 
natural  growth  either  of  Italy,  Greece,  or  Asia  Minor,  but  was 
confined,  as  it  still  is  in  a  great  degree,  to  countries  lying  further 
north  and  having  a  more  rigid  climate.  The  intimate  con- 
nexion of  the  Romans  with  the  Greek  colony  of  Marseilles 
may  have  brought  it  among  the  Sabines,  as  the  active  trade 
between  the  Euxine  and  Miletus  may  have  introduced  it  into 
Caria.  With  the  material  its  name  was  also  imported,  and  this 
is  substantially  the  same  in  all  the  languages  of  Europe,  as 
well  as  in  many  Asiatic  tonguest. 


*  See  Chap.  XII.  p.  194. 

t  Sanscrit,  Goni,  Sana,  or  Shanapu  ;  Persic,  Canna  ;  Arabic,  Kanneh,  or 
Kinnub  ;  Greek,  Ka.nnabis  ;  Latin,  Cannabis  ;  Italian,  Cannapa  ;  French,  Chan- 
vre,  or  Chanbre  ;  Danish  and  Flamand,  Kamp,  or  Kennep;  Lettish  and  Lithu- 
anian, Kannapes  ;  Slavonian,  Konopi  ;  Erse,  Canaib  ;  Scandinavian,  Hampr  ; 
Swedish,  Hampa  ;  German,  Hanf  ;  Anglo-Saxon,  Haenep  ;  English,  Hemp.  Our 
English  word  Canvass  (French,  Canevas,)  has  the  same  origin,  meaning  cloth 
made  of  hemp  (Canav). 

Hemp  is  comparatively  rare  in  India,  as  well  as  flax ;  and,  as  flax  is  there 
only  used  for  obtaining  oil,  so  hemp  is  never  used  for  making  cordage  or  for 
weaving,  but  only  for  smoking  on  account  of  the  narcotic  qualities  of  its  leaves. 
(Wissett  on  Hemp,  p.  20,  25.)  Its  name  Sana,  Sunu,  or  Gonu,  is  given  also  to 
the  Crotalaria  Juncea,  which  is  principally  applied  by  the  Indians  to  the  same 
uses  as  hemp  in  Europe.    See  Chap.  XIII.  p.  202. 

If  we  compare  flax  with  other  spinning  materials,  such  as  wool  and  cotton,  we 
shall  find  it  to  possess  several  characteristic  properties.  While  cotton  and  wool 
are  presented  by  nature  in  the  form  of  insulated  fibres,  the  former  requiring  merely 
to  be  separated  from  its  seeds,  and  the  latter  to  be  purified  from  dirt  .and  grease 
before  being  delivered  to  the  spinner,  flax  must  have  its  filaments  separated  from 
each  other  by  tedious  and  painful  treatment.  In  reference  to  the  spinning  and 
the  subsequent  operations,  the  following  properties  of  flax  are  influential  and  im- 
portant : — 

1.  The  considerable  length  of  the  fibres,  which  renders  it  difficult,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  form  a  fine,  level,  regular  thread,  on  the  other,  gives  the  yarn  a  consid- 
erably greater  tenacity,  so  that  it  cannot  be  broken  by  pulling  out  the  threads 
from  each  other,  but  by  tearing  them  across. 


390 


CULTIVATION  AND  USES  OP 


2.  The  smooth  and  slim  structure  of  the  filaments,  which  gives  to  linen  its  pe- 
culiar polished  aspect,  and  feel  so  different  from  cotton,  and  especially  from  wool- 
len stuffs,  unless  when  disguised  by  dressing.  The  fibres  of  flax  have  no  mutual 
entanglement,  whereby  one  can  draw  out  another  as  with  wool,  and  they  must 
therefore  be  made  adhesive  by  moisture.  This  wetting  of  the  fibres  renders  them 
more  pliant  and  easier  to  twist  together 

3.  The  small  degree  of  elasticity,  by  which  the  simple  fibres  can  be  stretched 
only  one  twenty -fifth  of  their  natural  length  before  they  break,  while  sheep's  wool 
will  stretch  from  one  fourth  to  one  half  before  it  gives  way. 

Good  flax  should  have  a  bright  silver  gray  or  yellowish  color  (inclining  neither 
to  green  nor  black) ;  it  should  be  long,  fine,  soft,  and  glistening,  somewhat  like 
silk,  and  contain  no  broad  tape -like  portions,  from  undissevered  filaments.  Tow 
differs  from  flax  in  having  shorter  fibres,  of  very  unequal  length,  and  more  or  less 
entangled.  Hemp  agrees  in  its  properties  essentially  with  flax,  and  must  be  simi- 
larly treated  in  the  spinning  processes. 

The  manufacture  of  linen  and  hemp  yarn,  and  the  tow  of  either,  may  be  ef- 
fected by  different  processes ;  by  the  distaff,  the  hand-wheel,  and  spinning  ma- 
chinery. It  will  be  unnecessary  to  occupy  the  pages  of  this  volume  with  a  de- 
scription of  the  first  two  well  known  domestic  employments.  Spinning  of  flax  by 
machinery  has  been  much  more  recently  brought  to  a  practical  state  than  the 
spinning  of  cotton  and  wool  by  machines,  of  which  the  cause  must  be  sought  for 
in  the  nature  of  flax  as  above  described.  The  first  attempts  at  the  machine  spin- 
ning of  flax,  went  upon  the  principle  of  cutting  the  filaments  into  short  fragments 
before  beginning  the  operation.  But  in  this  way  the  most  valuable  property  of 
linen  yarn,  its  cohesive  force,  was  greatly  impaired ;  or  these  attempts  were  re- 
stricted to  the  spinning  of  tow,  which  on  account  of  its  short  and  somewhat  tor- 
tuous fibres,  could  be  treated  like  cotton,  especially  after  it  had  been  further  torn 
by  the  carding  engine.  The  first  tolerably  good  results  with  machinery  seem  to 
have  been  obtained  by  the  brothers  Girard  at  Paris,  about  the  year  1810.  But 
the  French  have  never  carried  the  apparatus  to  any  great  practical  perfection. 
The  towns  of  Leeds  in  Yorkshire,  of  Dundee  in  Scotland,  and  Belfast  in  Ireland, 
have  the  merit  of  bringing  the  spinning  of  flax  by  machines  into  a  state  of  perfec- 
tion little  short  of  that  for  which  the  cotton  trade  has  been  so  long  celebrated. 

For  machine  spinning,  the  flax  is  sometimes  heckled  by  hand,  and  sometimes 
by  machinery.    The  series  of  operations  is  the  following : — 

1.  The  heckling. 

2.  The  conversion  of  the  flax  into  a  band  of  parallel  rectilinear  filaments,  which 
forms  the  foundation  of  the  future  yarn. 

3.  The  formation  of  a  sliver  from  the  riband,  by  drawing  it  out  into  a  narrower 
range  of  filaments. 

4.  The  coarse  spinning,  by  twisting  the  sliver  into  a  coarse  and  loose  thread. 

5.  The  fine  spinning,  by  the  simultaneous  extension  and  twisting  of  that  coarse 
thread. 

All  heckle  machines  have  this  common  property,  that  the  flax  is  not  drawn 
through  them,  as  in  working  by  hand,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  system  of  heckles 
is  moved  through  the  flax  properly  suspended  or  laid.  Differences  exist  in  the 
shape,  arrangement,  and  movements  of  the  heckles,  as  also  in  regard  to  the  means 


HEMP  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


391 


by  which  the  adhering  tow  is  removed  from  them.  The  simplest  and  most  com- 
mon construction  is  to  place  the  heckles  upon  the  surface  of  a  horizontal  cylinder, 
while  the  flax  is  held  either  by  mechanical  means  or  by  the  hand  during  its  expo- 
sure to  the  heckle  points.  Many  machines  have  been  made  upon  this  principle. 
It  is  proper  in  this  case  to  set  the  heckle  teeth  obliquely  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  cylinder  turns,  whereby  they  penetrate  the  fibres  in  a  more  parallel  line,  effect 
their  separation  more  easily,  and  cause  less  waste  in  torn  filaments.  To  conduct 
the  flax  upon  the  cylinders,  two  horizontal  fluted  rollers  of  iron  are  employed, 
which  can  be  so  modified  in  a  moment  by  a  lever  as  to  present  the  flax  more  or 
less  to  the  heckling  mechanism.  The  operator  seizes  a  tress  lock  of  flax  with  her 
hand  and  introduces  it  between  the  fluted  rollers,  so  that  the  tips  on  which  the 
operation  must  begin,  reach  the  heckles  first,  and  by  degrees  the  advancing  flax 
gets  heckled  through  two  thirds  or  three  fourths  of  its  length,  after  which  the  tress 
or  strick  is  turned,  and  its  other  end  is  subjected  to  the  same  process.  By  its 
somewhat  rapid  revolution  the  heckle  cylinder  creates  a  current  of  air  which  not 
only  carries  away  the  boomy  particles,  but  also  spreads  out  the  flax  like  a  sheaf 
of  corn  upon  the  spikes,  effecting  the  same  object  as  is  done  by  the  dexterous 
swing  of  the  hand.  The  tow  collects  betwixt  the  teeth  of  the  heckle,  and  may, 
when  its  quantity  has  become  considerable,  be  removed  in  the  form  of  a  flock  of 
parallel  layers. 

Flax  has  been  for  a  long  period  spun  wet  in  the  mills  ;  a  method  no  doubt  cop- 
ied from  the  practice  of  housewives  moistening  their  yarn  with  their  saliva  at 
the  domestic  wheel.  Within  a  few  years  the  important  improvement  has  been 
introduced  of  substituting  hot  for  cold  water,  in  the  troughs  through  which  the 
fibres  in  the  act  of  spinning  pass.  By  this  means  a  much  finer,  smoother,  and 
more  uniform  thread  can  be  spun  than  in  the  old  way.  The  flax  formerly  spun 
to  twelve  pounds  a  bundle  is,  with  hot  water,  spun  to  six.  The  inconvenience  of 
the  spray  thrown  from  the  yarn  on  the  fliers  remains,  aggravated  by  increased 
heat  and  dampness  of  the  room  where  this  hot  process  goes  on.  Being  a  new  ex- 
pedient, it  receives  daily  changes  and  ameliorations.  When  first  employed,  the 
troughs  of  hot  water  were  quite  open  ;  they  are  now  usually  covered  in,  so  as  al- 
most entirely  to  obviate  the  objections  to  which  they  were  previously  liable.  With 
the  covers  has  been  also  introduced  a  new  method  of  piecening  or  joining  on  any 
end,  which  may  have  been  run  down,  namely,  by  splicing  it  to  the  adjoining  ro- 
ving, whereby  it  is  carried  through  the  water  without  imposing  a  necessity  on  the 
spinner  to  put  her  hand  into  the  water  at  all.  In  some  places  she  uses  a  wire, 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  through  the  end  of  the  roving  to  mend  a  broken  yarn. 

This  may  be  considered  the  inherent  evil  of  flax-spinning, — the  spray  thrown 
off  by  the  wet  yarn,  as  it  whirls  about  with  the  flier  of  the  spindles.  A  working 
dress,  indeed,  is  generally  worn  by  the  spinners ;  but,  unless  it  be  made  of  stuff 
impermeable  to  water,  like  Mackintosh's  cloth,  it  will  soon  become  uncomfortable, 
and  cause  injury  to  health  by  keeping  the  body  continually  in  a  hot  bath.  In 
some  mills,  water-proof  cloth  and  leather  aprons  have  actually  been  introduced, 
which  are  the  only  practicable  remedy ;  for  the  free  space  which  must  be  left  round 
the  spindles  for  the  spinner  to  see  them  play,  is  incompatible  with  any  kind  of 
fixed  guard  or  parapluie. 


CHAPTER  III. 


ASBESTOS. 

Uses  of  Asbestos — Carpasian  flax — Still  found  in  Cyprus — Used  in  funerals — As- 
bestine-cloth— How  manufactured — Asbestos  used  for  fraud  and  superstition 
by  the  Romish  monks — Relic  at  Monte  Casino — Further  impostures  of  the 
monks — Remarks  thereon. 

Varro  mentions  the  name  Asbestos  as  a  proof,  that  the  cloth 
so  called  was  a  Greek  invention*.  His  argument  is  obviously 
correct.  The  term  (aapearos)  means  inextinguishable,  and  was 
most  properly  applied  to  the  wicks  of  lamps,  which  were  made 
of  this  substance  and  were  never  consumed. 

The  fullest  account  of  the  properties  and  uses  of  Asbestos  is 
contained  in  the  following  passage  from  Sotacus,  a  Greek  author 
who  wrote  on  Stonest.  The  passage  occurs  in  the  Historic 
Commentitiee,  attributed  to  Apollonius  Dyscolus  (cap.  36). 

The  Carystian  stone  has  woolly  and  colored  appendages,  which  are  spun  and 
woven  into  napkins.  This  substance  is  also  twisted  into  wicks,  which,  when 
burnt,  are  bright,  but  do  not  consume.  The  napkins,  when  dirty,  are  not  wash- 
ed with  water,  but  a  fire  is  made  of  sticks,  and  then  the  napkin  is  put  into  it. 
The  dirt  disappears,  and  the  napkin  is  rendered  white  and  pure  by  the  fire,  and 
is  applicable  to  the  same  purposes  as  before.  The  wicks  remain  burning  with  oil 
continually  without  being  consumed.  This  stone  is  produced  in  Carystus,  from 
which  it  has  its  name,  and  in  great  abundance  in  Cyprus  under  rocks  to  the  left 
of  ElmEeum,  as  you  go  from  Gerandros  to  Soli. — Yates's  Translation. 

"  At  Carystus,"  says  Strabo,  "  under  Mount  Ocha  in  Euboea 
is  produced  the  stone,  which  is  combed  and  woven  so  as  to  make 
napkins  (x^^aKrpa)  or  handkerchiefs.  When  these  have  become 
dirty,  instead  of  being  washed,  they  are  thrown  into  a  flame 
and  thus  purified! 


*  De  Lingua  Lat.  L.  v.  p.  134.  ed.  Spengel. 

t  Sotacus  is  several  times  quoted  by  Pliny  (L.  xxxvi.,  xxxvii.)  as  a  foreign 
writer  on  Stones. 

X  Lib.  x.  p.  19.  ed.  Sieb. 


TJSES  OF  ASBESTOS. 


393 


Plutarch  speaks  in  similar  terms  of  napkins,  nets,  and  head- 
dresses, made  of  the  Carystian  stone,  but  says,  that  it  was  no 
longer  found  in  his  time,  only  thin  veins  of  it,  like  hairs,  being 
discoverable  in  the  rock*. 

Mr.  Hawkins  ascertained,  that  the  rock,  which  was  quarried 
in  Mount  Ocha,  now  called  St.  Elias,  above  Carystus,  is  the 
Cipolino  of  the  Roman  antiquariest.  Further  north  in  the 
same  island  Dr.  Sibthorp  observed  "  rocks  of  Serpentine  in  beds 
of  saline  marble,  forming  the  Verdantique  of  the  ancientst 
and  he  states,  that  on  the  shore  to  the  north  of  Negropont 
"  the  rocks  are  composed  of  serpentine  stone  with  veins  of  as- 
bestos and  soapstone  intermixed^"  Tournefort  speaks  of 
Amiantus  as  brought  from  Ga  ysto  in  his  time,  but  of  inferior 
quality  ||. 

Pausanias  (i.  26.  7.)  s^ys,  the  wick  of  the  golden  lamp  which 
was  kept  burning  night  and  day  in  the  temple  of  Minerva 
Polias  at  Athens,  was  "of  Carpasian  flax,  the  only  kind  of 
flax  which  is  indestructible  by  fire."  This  "  Carpasian  flax" 
was  asbestos  from  the  vicinity  of  Carpasus,  a  town  near  the 
north-east  corner  of  Cyprus,  which  retains  its  ancient  name. 
Carp  as. 

Dioscorides  (L.  v.  c.  93.)  gives  a  similar  account  of  the  quali- 
ties and  uses  of  Amiantus,  and  says  it  was  produced  in  CypruslT. 

Majolus  says**,  that  in  the  year  1566  he  saw  at  Venice  Podo- 
cattarus,  a  knight  of  Cyprus,  and  a  writer  on  the  history  of  that 
island,  who  exhibited  at  Venice  cloth  made  of  the  asbestos  of 
his  country,  which  he  threw  into  the  fire,  and  took  it  out  unin- 
jured and  made  quite  clean. 

Referring  to  Cyprus,  Sonnini  ( Voyage  en  Grece,  i.  p.  66.) 
says, 

L'amiante,  asbestos,  ou  lin  incombustible  des  anciens,  est  encore  aussi  abon- 


*  De  Oraculorum  Defectu,  p.  770.  ed.  H.  Stephani,  Par.  1572. 

t  Travels  in  various  Countries  of  the  East,  edited  by  Walpole,  p.  288. 

t  Ibid.  p.  37. 

§  Ibid.  p.  38. — N.  B.  Asbestos  is  always  found  in  rocks  of  Serpentine. 
|]  Voyage,  English  Translation,  vol.  i.  p.  129. 
IT  See  p.  392. 

**  Dier.  Canicular.  Part  I.  Collog.  xx.  p.  453. 


394 


USES  OF  ASBESTOS. 


dant  qu'il  le  fut  autrefois ;  la  carriere  qui  le  foumit  est  dans  la  montagne  d'Aka- 
mantide,  pres  du  cap  Chromachiti. 

Le  talc  est  commun,  surtout  pres  de  Larnaca,  ou  on  l'emploie  a  blanchir  les 
maisons ;  et  le  platre  a  de  nombreuses  carrieres. 

The  "  talc "  may  be  the  same  with  the  "  Lapis  specularis," 
which  was  found  in  Cyprus,  according  to  Pliny  (xxxvi.  45.). 
The  testimony  of  Sonnini  so  far  agrees  with  those  of  the 
ancients,  that  all  the  places  mentioned  were  on  the  northern 
side  of  the  island,  so  that  the  asbestos  seems  to  have  been 
found  between  Soke  towards  the  West  and  Carpas  towards  the 
East. 

Pietro  della  Valle,  when  he  was  at  Larnaca,  was  presented 
with  a  piece  of  the  amiantus  of  the  country,  but  says  that  it 
was  no  longer  spun  and  woven. 

Pliny,  if  we  can  rely  upon  his  testimony  as  given  in  the  ex- 
isting editions  of  his  works,  states,  that  Asbestos  was  obtained 
in  Arcadia  (H.  N.  xxxvii.  54.)  and  in  India. 

"  A  kind  of  flax  has  been  discovered  which  is  incombustible  by  fire.  It  is 
called  live  flax;  and  we  have  seen  napkins  of  it  burning  upon  the  hearth  at  en- 
tertainments, and,  when  thus  deprived  of  their  dirt,  more  resplendent  through  the 
agency  of  fire  than  they  could  have  been  by  the  use  of  water.  The  funeral  shirts 
made  of  it  for  kings  preserve  the  ashes  of  the  body  separate  from  those  of  the  rest 
of  the  pile.  It  is  produced  in  deserts  and  in  tracts  scorched  by  the  Indian  sun, 
where  there  are  no  showers,  and  among  dire  serpents,  and  thus  it  is  inured  to  live 
even  when  it  is  burnt.  It  is  rare,  and  woven  with  difficulty  on  account  of  the 
shortness  of  its  fibres.  That  variety  which  is  of  a  red  color  becomes  resplendent 
in  the  fire.  When  it  has  been  found  it  equals  the  prices  of  excellent  pearls.  It  is 
called  by  the  Greeks  Asbestine  Flax,  on  account  of  its  nature.  Anaxilaus  re- 
lates, that  if  a  tree  surrounded  with  cloth  made  of  it  be  beaten,  the  strokes  are 
not  heard.  On  account  of  these  properties  this  flax  is  the  first  in  the  world.  The 
next  in  value  is  that  made  of  byssus,  which  is  produced  about  Elis  in  Achaia, 
and  used  principally  for  fine  female  ornaments.  I  find  that  a  scruple  of  this  flax, 
as  also  of  gold,  was  formerly  sold  for  four  denarii*.  The  nap  of  linen  cloths,  ob- 
tained chiefly  from  the  sails  of  ships,  is  of  great  use  in  surgery,  and  their  ashes 
have  the  same  effect  as  spodium.  There  is  a  certain  kind  of  poppy  the  use  of 
which  imparts  the  highest  degree  of  whiteness  to  linen  cloths." — Pliny,  Lib.  xix. 
ch.  4. 

Besides  the  manufacture  of  napkins,  this  description  exactly 
agrees  with  the  accounts  of  Strabo,  Sotacus,  Dioscorides,  and 

*  i.  e.  eighteen  grains  of  this  flax  were  worth  2s.  lOd.  stg.,  being  equal  in  value 
to  its  weight  in  gold. 


USES   OF  ASBESTOS. 


395 


Plutarch.  Pliny's  account  of  the  use  of  this  material  in  fune- 
rals has  been  remarkably  confirmed  by  the  occasional  discovery 
of  pieces  of  asbestine  cloth  in  the  tombs  of  Italy.  One  was 
found  in  1633  at  Puzzuolo,  and  was  preserved  in  the  Barberini 
gallery*.  Another  was  found  in  1702  a  mile  without  the  gate 
called  Porta  Major  in  Rome.  We  have  an  account  of  the  dis- 
covery in  a  letter  written  from  Rome  at  the  time,  and  appended 
to  Montfaucon's  Travels  through  Italy.  A  marble  sarcophagus 
having  been  discovered  in  a  vineyard  was  found  to  contain  the 
cloth,  which  was  about  5  feet  wide,  and  6^  long.  It  contained 
a  skull  and  the  other  burnt  bones  of  a  human  body.  The 
sculptured  marble  indicates,  that  the  deceased  was  a  man  of  rank. 
He  is  supposed  to  have  lived  not  earlier  than  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine.  This  curious  relic  of  antiquity  has  been  preserved  in 
the  Vatican  Library  since  the  period  of  its  discovery,  and  Sir 
J.  E.  Smith,  who  saw  it  there,  gives  the  following  description 
of  its  appearance : — 

It  is  coarsely  spun,  but  as  soft  and  pliant  as  silk.  Our  guide  set  hre  to  one 
corner  of  it,  and  the  very  same  part  burnt  repeatedly  with  great  rapidity  and 
brightness  without  being  at  all  injuredt. 

Also  in  the  Museo  Barbonico  at  Naples  there  is  a  considerable 
piece  of  asbestine  cloth,  found  at  Vasto  in  the  Abruzzi,  the  an- 
cient Histonium. 

Hierocles,  the  historian,  as  quoted  by  Stephanus  Byzantinus, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  Asbestos  of  India : — 

The  Brachmans  use  cloth  made  of  a  kind  of  flax,  which  is  obtained  from 
rocks.  Webs  are  produced  from  it,  which  are  neither  subject  to  be  consumed  by 
fire  nor  cleansed  by  water,  but  which,  after  they  have  become  full  of  dirt  and 
stains,  are  rendered  clear  and  white  by  being  thrown  into  the  fire. 

The  following  testimonies  illustrate  the  fact,  recorded  by 
both  Hierocles  and  Pliny,  that  Asbestos  was  obtained  from 
India. 

Marco  Polot  mentions,  that  incombustible  cloth  was  woven 
from  a  fibrous  stone  found  at  Chenchen  in  the  territory  of  the 

*  Keysler's  Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  292.    London  1760. 
t  Tour  on  the  Continent,  vol.  ii.  p.  201. 
t  Marsden's  Translation,  p.  176. 

50 


396 


USES  OF  ASBESTOS. 


Great  Khan.  It  was  pounded  in  a  brass  mortar ;  then  washed 
to  separate  the  earthy  particles ;  spun  and  woven  into  cloth ; 
and  cleansed,  when  dirty,  by  being  thrown  into  the  fire. 

Bugnon,  in  his  Relation  Exacte  concemant  les  Caravanes 
[Nancy ^  1707,  p.  37-39.)  mentions,  that  Amiantus  was  found 
in  Cyprus  and  on  the  confines  of  Arabia.  He  says,  they  spun 
it  and  made  stockings,  socks,  and  drawers,  which  fitted  close- 
ly ;  that  over  these  they  wore  their  other  garments ;  and  that 
they  were  thus  protected  from  the  heat  in  travelling  with  the 
caravans  through  Asia. 

Basil,  Bishop  of  Caesarea,  shows  that  he  was  acquainted  with 
the  properties  of  this  substance,  by  comparing  the  three  chil- 
dren cast  into  the  fiery  furnace  without  being  hurt  (Dan.  iii.) 
to  Asbestos,  "  which,  when  put  into  the  fire  seems  to  burn  and 
to  be  turned  to  ashes,  but,  when  taken  out,  becomes  purer  and 
brighter  than  it  was  before*." 

Damasus  (in  Silvestro  Papa)  mentions,  that  the  Emperor 
Constantine  directed  asbestos  to  be  used  for  the  wicks  of  the 
lamps  in  his  baptistery  at  Rome. 

For  further  particulars  respecting  the  places  where  amiantus 
is  procured,  and  the  mode  of  preparing  it  for  the  manufacture 
of  cloth,  we  refer  to  the  treatises  of  mineralogists  and  to  the 
Essays  of  Ciampini,  Tilingius,  Mahudel,  and  Bruckmann  on 
this  particular  subject.  We  are  informed,  that  it  is  softened  and 
rendered  supple  by  being  steeped  in  oil,  and  that  fibres  of  flax 
are  then  mixed  with  it  in  order  that  it  may  be  spun.  When 
the  cloth  is  woven,  it  is  put  into  the  fire,  by  which  the  flax  and 
oil  are  dissipated,  and  the  asbestos  alone  remainst. 

Ignorance  of  the  true  nature  of  Asbestos  caused  it  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  dark  ages  for  purposes  of  superstition  and  relig- 
ious fraud.    Of  this  we  have  a  proof  in  the  following  account 


*  Homilia  de  Jejunio,  p.  111. 

t  Tournefort's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  129.  Bruckmann,  Hist.  Nat.  Lapidis.  Bruns- 
wic.  1727.  p.  31,  32.  This  author  says  the  asbestos  was  put  into  warm  water, 
and  there  rubbed  and  turned  about.  An  earth  separates  from  it,  which  makes 
the  water  as  white  as  milk.  This  is  repeated  five  or  six  times.  The  fibres,  thus 
purified,  are  spread  out  to  dry. 


USES  OF  ASBESTOS. 


397 


which  we  find  in  the  Chronicon  Casinense  of  Leo  Ostiensis, 
L.  ii.  c.  33. 

His  diebus  Monachi  quidam  ab  Jerusolymis  venientes  particulam  lintei,  cum  quo 
pedes  discipulorum  Salvator  extersit,  secum  detulerunt,  et  ob  reverentiam  sancti 
hujus  loci  devotissime  hie  obtulerunt,  sexto  scilicet  Idus  Decembris ;  sed,  cum  a 
plurimis  super  hoc  nulla  fides  adhiberetur,  illi  fide  fidentes  protinus  praedictam  par- 
ticulam in  accensi  turibuli  igne  desuper  posuerunt,  quae  mox  quidem  in  ignis  colo- 
rem  conversa,  post  paululum  vero,  amotis  carbonibus,  ad  pristmam  speciem  mi- 
rabiliter  est  reversa.  Cumque  excogitarent  qualiter,  vel  quanam  in  parte  pignora 
tanta  locarent,  contigit,  dispositione  divina,  ut  eodem  ipso  die,  transmissus  sit  in 
hunc  locum  loculus  ille  mirificus,  ubi  nunc  recondita  est  ipsa  lintei  sancti  particula, 
argento  et  auro  gemmisque  Anglico  opere  subtiliter  ac  pulcherrime  decoratus.  Ibi 
ergo  christallo  superposito  venerabiliter  satis  est  collocata :  morisque  est  singulis 
annis,  ipso  die  Coenae  Dominicoe  ad  mandatum  Fratrum  earn  a  Mansionariis  de- 
ferri  et  in  medium  poni,  duoque  candelabra  ante  illam  accendi  et  indesinenter  per 
totum  mandati  spatium  ab  Acolito  incensari.  Demum  vero  juxta  finem  mandati 
a  singulis  per  ordinem  fratribus  flexis  genibus  devotissime  adorari  et  reverenter 
exosculari. 

There  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt  the  truth  of  this  narrative 
so  far  as  respects  the  veracity  and  credit  of  the  historian.  Leo 
Ostiensis  became  an  inmate  of  the  Abbey  of  Monte  Casino  a 
few  years  after  the  event  is  said  to  have  happened,  and  could 
scarcely  be  misinformed  respecting  the  circumstances,  more  es- 
pecially as  he  held  during  the  latter  part  of  his  abode  there  the 
office  of  Librarian.  There  is  nothing  improbable  in  the  story. 
Asbestine  cloth,  as  we  have  learnt  from  Marco  Polo,  was  man- 
ufactured in  Asia  during  the  middle  ages,  and  the  reputed  relic 
was  obtained  at  Jerusalem.  That  the  pilgrims,  who  visited 
Jerusalem,  should  be  imposed  upon  in  this  manner,  is  in  the 
highest  degree  probable,  since  we  are  informed,  that  the  very 
same  substance  in  its  natural  state  was  often  sold  to  devotees 
AS  THE  WOOD  OF  THE  TRUE  CROSS,  and  its  in- 
combustibility was  exhibited  as  the  proof  of  its  genuineness. 
This  we  learn  in  the  following  passage  from  Tilingius,  who 
wrote  "  De  lino  vivo  aut  asbestino  et  incombustibili." 

Antonius  Musa  Brassavolus  Ferrariensis  tradit,  impostores  lapidem  Amiantum 
simplicibus  mulierculis  ostendere  vendereque  saBpenumero  pro  ligno  crusis  Serva- 
toris  nostri.  Id  quod  facile  credunt,  cum  igne  non  comburatur,  quodque  ligni  mo- 
do  plurimis  constet  lineis  intercur  santibus. — Miscellanea  Curiosa  Natures  Curi- 
osorum,  Decuria  ii.  Ann.  ii.  p.  111.  Noremberga,  1684. 


398 


USES  OF  ASBESTOS. 


The  monks  on  their  arrival  at  Monte  Casino  would  natural- 
ly display  the  same  evidence,  by  which  they  themselves  had 
been  convinced ;  and  the  appearance  of  the  cloth,  when  put 
into  the  fire  and  taken  out  of  it,  is  described  exactly  as  it 
would  be  in  fact,  supposing  it  to  have  been  made  of  amiantus. 

Montfaucon,  in  his  Travels  in  Italy  (p.  381.  English  ed. 
8m),  describes  a  splendid  service-book,  which  was  written  A.  D. 
1072  by  Leo  at  the  expense  of  brother  John  of  Marsicana,  and 
presented  by  John  to  the  Monastery  of  Monte  Casino,  where  it 
was  exhibited  to  Montfaucon  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  and 
curious  monuments.  An  illumination  in  this  book  represents  a 
monk  kneeling  before  St.  Benedict,  the  patron  and  founder 
of  the  institution,  and  holding  in  his  hands  a  cloth,  on  which 
St.  Benedict  is  placing  his  left  foot.  Montfaucon  gives  an  en- 
graving from  this  picture  :  he  supposes  the  cloth  to  be  a  monk's 
cowl,  and  conjectures  that  it  was  thus  used  in  admitting  novices. 
This  explanation  is  evidently  a  most  unsatisfactory  one,  nothing 
being  produced  to  render  it  even  probable.  We  believe  the 
cloth  to  be  that  the  history  of  which  has  just  now  been  given,  and 
that  the  design  of  the  artist  was  to  represent  a  monk  wiping 
the  feet  of  St.  Benedict  with  the  same  cloth  with  which  Jesus 
wiped  the  feet  of  his  disciples. 

This  supposition  will  appear  the  more  probable  if  we  attend 
to  the  date  of  the  MS.  (A.  D.  1072)  and  the  persons,  by  whom 
and  at  whose  expense  it  was  written.  "  Brother  John  of  Mar- 
sicana" appears  to  have  been  at  this  time  advanced  in  years, 
wealthy,  and  highly  respected,  since  we  are  informed,  that  in 
the  year  1055,  when  Peter  was  chosen  Abbot  of  the  Monas- 
tery, some  of  the  brotherhood  wished  to  choose  John,  although 
he,  foreseeing  that  the  choice  would  be  likely  to  fall  on  him,  had 
obstinately  sworn  on  the  altar,  that  he  would  never  undertake 
the  office.  John  was  at  this  time  provost  of  Capua*.  Seven- 
teen years  afterwards  he  went  to  the  expense  of  providing  the 
service-book  seen  by  Montfaucon.  He  employed  as  his  scribe 
one  of  the  fraternity,  who  was  his  junior  and  from  the  same 


*  Dominum  Johannem,  cognomine  Marsicanum,  qui  tunc  Capuae  erat  propo- 
situs, &c. —  Leonis  Ostiensis  Chronicon  Casinense,  L.  ii.  c.  92. 


USES  OF  ASBESTOS. 


399 


city  with  himself.  For  there  can  be  scarcely  a  doubt,  but  that 
Leo,  who  wrote  the  MS.,  was  the  same  who  was  the  author  of 
the  Chronicon.  The  author  of  the  Chronicon,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  history,  calls  himself  "  Frater  Leo,  cogno- 
mine  Marsicanus*".  He  was  made  Bishop  of  Ostia  A.  D.  1101, 
so  that  we  may  suppose  him  to  have  been  twenty  or  thirty 
years  of  age,  when  the  MS.  was  made.  Of  his  aptitude  for 
such  an  employment  we  cannot  doubt,  when  we  consider  his 
future  labors  as  Librarian  and  author  of  the  Chronicle.  But 
if  these  facts  be  evident,  it  is  equally  manifest,  that  these  two 
accomplished  Benedictines  could  not  have  expressed  their  ven- 
eration towards  their  founder  in  any  way  better  suited  to  their 
ideas  and  belief  than  by  exhibiting  in  the  manner  described 
that  relic,  WHICH  WAS  SOLEMNLY  DISPLAYED 
ONCE  A  JEAR  WITH  BURNING  CANDLES  AND 
ATTENDING  ACOLYTHES  TO  THE  ADMIRING 
AND  ADORING  CROWD  OF  DEVOTEES. 

On  inquiry  it  is  found  that  this  relic  exists  no  longer  at 
Monte  Casino,  although  the  original  copy  of  the  Chronicon  of 
Leo  Ostiensis  is  still  preserved  in  the  Libraryf.  It  appears  that 
the  relic  has  long  been  lost,  since  there  is  no  mention  either  of 
it,  or  of  the  casket  which  contained  it  in  the  "  Descrizione  Is- 
torica  del  Monastero  di  Monte  Casino,  Napoli,  1775." 

A  large  glove  of  this  substance  is  in  the  Hunterian  Museum 
at  Glasgow.  An  English  traveller  states  that  he  has  lately  seen 
at  Parma  a  table-cloth,  made  of  Amiantus  from  Corsica,  for 
the  use  of  the  ex-Empress  Maria  Louisa,  who  resided  there 
after  the  fall  of  Napoleon. 

In  modern  times  cloth  of  asbestos  is  scarcely  made.  Indeed 
it  is  not  probable  that  this  material  will  ever  be  obtained  in 
much  abundance,  or  that  it  will  cease  to  be  a  rarity  except  in 
the  places  of  its  production.  It  is  never  seen  in  Great  Britain, 
or  on  the  continent,  save  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious. 


*  Marsicana  (civitas)  was  in  Marsica,  the  territory  of  the  ancient  Marsi. 
t  Excursions  in  the  Abruzzi,  by  the  Hon.  Keppel  Craven,  vol.  i.  p.  54. 


1 


The  annexed  Map  (Plate  VII.)  is  designed  to  indicate  the 
divisions  of  the  Ancient  "World  as  determined  by  the  Raw 
Materials  principally  produced  and  employed  in  them  for 
weaving. 

The  Red  division  produced  Sheeps'-Wool  and  Goats'-Hair : 
also  Beavers'- Wool  in  the  portion  of  this  division,  which  lies  to 
the  North  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  of  the  rivers  Padus 
and  Ister  :  and  Camels'- Wool  and  Camels'-Hair  in  the  portion 
lying  South-East  of  a  line  drawn  through  the  cokst  of  Syria. 
The  nations  to  the  North  of  this  division  clothed  themselves  in 
skins,  furs,  and  felt. 

The  Yellow  at  the  Eastern  corner  indicates  the  commence- 
ment of  the  vast  Region,  unknown  to  the  Ancients,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  clothed  themselves  in  Silk. 

The  Green  indicates  the  countries,  all  low  and  bordering  on 
rivers,  in  which  the  cloth  manufactured  was  chiefly  Linen. 

The  Brown  is  designed  to  show  the  cultivation  of  Hemp  in 
the  low  country  to  the  North  of  the  Euxine  Sea,  and  probably 
in  other  places,  North  of  the  Red  division,  which  were  adapted 
for  its  growth. 

Lastly,  the  Blue,  which  is  the  colour  of  the  Baharein  Isles 
and  of  India,  shows  that  the  inhabitants  of  these  countries 
have  from  time  immemorial  clothed  themselves  in  Cotton. 


the  Ancient  World  as  deie  mined  by  <tliQ  Ra* 
rincipally  produced  and  \emj»loyed  in  thfem,  for 

i  .dtvieion  produced  Sheeps'- W  >ol  and  Goats'-Hair 
s^Wdol  in  the  portion  of  this  d  vision,  which  lies  to 
ft  ha  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  of  the  rivers  Paxtu* 
md  Camels -Wool  and  Camek?-i  lair  in  the  portion 

•Kiwi      a  Kte  drawn  throurii  'he  co^st  of  Svria 


o  the  North  of  the  Euxine  Sea,  and  probably 
orth  of  the  Red  division,  which  w  ere  adapted 


APPENDICES, 


APPENDIX  A. 

ON  PLINY'S  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

Sheep  and  wool — Price  of  wool  in  Pliny's  time — Varieties  of  wool  and  where  pro- 
duced— Coarse  wool  used  for  the  manufacture  of  carpets — Woollen  cloth  of 
Egypt — Embroidery — Felting — Manner  of  cleansing — Distaff  of  Tanaquil — 
Varro — Tunic — Toga — Undulate  or  waved  cloth — Nature  of  this  fabric — Fig- 
ured cloths  in  use  in  the  days  of  Homer  (900  B.  C.) — Cloth  of  gold — Figured 
cloths  of  Babylon — Damask  first  woven  at  Alexandria — Plaided  textures  first 
woven  in  Gaul — $150,000  paid  for  a  Babylonish  coverlet — Dyeing  of  wool  in  the 
fleece — Observations  on  sheep  and  goats — Dioscurias  a  city  of  the  Colchians— 
Manner  of  transacting  business. 

LIB.  VIII.  c.  47s.  72.    50s.  76  * 

"  We  are  also  much  indebted  to  sheep  both  in  sacrifices  to  propitiate  the  gods, 
and  in  the  use  of  their  fleeces.  As  oxen  produce  by  cultivation  the  food  of  men, 
so  we  owe  to  sheep  the  protection  of  our  bodies  There  are  two  prin- 
cipal kinds  of  sheep,  the  covered  and  the  common.  The  former  is  softer,  the  lat- 
ter more  delicate  in  feeding,  inasmuch  as  the  covered  feeds  on  brambles.  Its 
coverings  are  chiefly  of  Arabic  materials. 

"  The  most  approved  wool  is  the  Apulian,  and  that  which  is  called  the  wool 
of  Greek  sheep  in  Italy,  and  the  Italic  wool  in  other  places.  The  third  kind  in 
value  is  that  obtained  from  Milesian  sheep.  The  Apulian  wools  have  a  short 
staple,  and  are  only  celebrated  for  making  pasnulas.  They  attain  the  highest 
degree  of  excellence  about  Tarentum  and  Canusium.  In  Asia  wools  of  the  same 
kind  are  obtained  at  Laodicea.  No  white  wool  is  preferred  to  those  which  are 
produced  about  the  Po,  nor  has  a  pound  ever  yet  exceeded  a  hundred  sesterces 
(about  $3,60.).  Sheep  are  not  shorn  everywhere  :  in  certain  places  the  practice 
of  pulling  off  the  wool  continues.  There  are  various  colors  of  wool,  so  that  we 
want  terms  to  denote  all.  Spain  produces  some  of  those  varieties  which  we  call 
native ;  Pollentia,  near  the  Alps,  furnishes  the  chief  kinds  of  black  wool ;  Asia 


*  The  edition  here  followed  is  that  of  Sillig,  Lipsise,  1831-6,  5  vols.,  12mo. 

51 


402 


on  pliny's  natural  history. 


and  Baetica  those  ruddy  varieties  called  Erythrean  ;  Canusium  a  sandy-colored* 
wool ;  and  Tarentum  one  of  a  dark  shade  peculiar  to  that  locality.  New-shorn 
greasy  wools  have  all  a  medicinal  virtue.  The  wool  of  Istria  and  Liburnia  being 
more  like  hair  than  wool,  is  unsuitable  for  making  the  cloths  which  have  a  long 
nap.  This  is  also  the  case  with  the  wool  of  Salacia  in  Lusitania  ;  but  the  cloth 
made  from  it  is  recommended  by  its  plaided  pattern.  A  similar  kind  is  pro- 
duced about  Piscena?  (i.  e.  Pezenas),  in  the  province  of  Narbonne,  and  likewise 
in  Egypt,  the  woollen  cloth  of  which  country,  having  been  worn  by  use,  is  em- 
broidered and  lasts  some  time  longer.  The  coarse  wool  with  a  thick  staple  was 
used  in  very  ancient  times  for  carpets :  at  least  Homer  (900  B.  C.)  speaks  of 
the  use  of  it.  The  Gauls  have  one  method  of  embroidering  these  carpets,  and 
the  Parthians  another.  Portions  of  wool  also  make  cloth  by  being  forced  to- 
gether by  themselves^.  With  the  addition  of  vinegar  these  also  resist  iron,  nay 
even  fires,  which  are  the  last  expedient  for  purging  them ;  for,  having  been  taken 
out  of  the  caldrons  of  the  polishers,  they  are  sold  for  the  stuffing  of  beds,  an  in- 
vention made,  I  believe,  in  Gaul,  certainly  in  the  present  day  distinguished  by 
Gallic  names :  for  in  what  age  it  commenced  I  could  not  easily  say,  since  the 
ancients  used  beds  of  straw,  such  as  are  now  employed  in  camps.  The  cloths 
called  gausapa  began  to  be  used  within  the  memory  of  my  father  ;  those  called 
amphimalla  within  my  own,  (See  Part  First,  p.  30,)  as  well  as  the  shaggy  cov- 
erings for  the  stomach,  called  ventralia.  For  the  tunic  with  the  laticlave  is  now 
first  beginning  to  be  woven  after  the  manner  of  the  gausapa.  The  black  wools 
are  never  dyed.  Concerning  the  dyeing  of  the  others  we  shall  speak  in  their 
proper  places,  in  treating  of  sea-shells  or  the  nature  of  herbs. 

"  M.  Varro  says,  that  the  wool  continued  to  his  time  upon  the  distaff  and  spindle 
of  Tanaquil,  also  called  Caia  Caecilia,  in  the  temple  of  Sangus  ;  and  that  there  re- 
mained in  the  temple  of  Fortune  a  royal  undulate  toga  made  by  her,  which  Servius 
Tullius  had  worn.  Hence  arose  the  practice  of  carrying  a  distaff  with  wool  upon 
it,  and  a  spindle  with  its  thread,  after  virgins  who  were  going  to  be  married.  She 
first  wove  the  straight  tunic,  such  as  is  worn  by  tiros  together  with  the  toga 
pur  a,  and  by  newly-married  women.  The  undulate  or  waved  cloth  was  origin- 
ally one  of  the  most  admired ;  from  it  was  derived  the  soriculateX.  Fenestrella 
writes,  that  scraped  and  Phryxian  togas  came  into  favor  about  the  end  of  the 


*  This  term  is  adopted  as  the  best  translation  of  the  Latin  fulvus,  which,  as 
well  as  the  corresponding  Greek  adjective  i-av6d$}  denoted  a  light  yellowish-brown. 
Hence  it  was  so  commonly  applied  to  the  light  hair,  which  accompanies  a  light 
complexion  and  often  indicates  mental  vivacity,  and  which  has  consequently  been 
always  considered  beautiful.  Hence  also  it  was  used  to  denote  the  appearance 
of  the  Tiber  and  other  rivers,  when  they  were  rendered  turbid  by  the  quantity  of 
sand  suspended  in  their  waters. — See  Fellows's  Discoveries  in  Lyc'ia. 

t  See  Appendix  C. 

t  It  is  probable  that  soriculate  cloth  was  a  kind  of  velvet,  or  plush,  so  called 
from  its  resemblance  to  the  coat  of  the  field-mouse,  sorex,  dim.  soricula.  So- 
riculata  may  have  been  changed  into  sororiculata  by  repeating  or  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  word. 


on  pliny's  natural  history. 


403 


reign  of  the  Divine  Augustus.  The  thick  poppied  togas  are  of  remoter  origin,  be- 
ing noticed  even  so  far  back  as  by  the  poet  Lucilius  in  his  Torquatus.  The  toga 
pr&tezta  was  invented  among  the  Etruscans.  I  find  evidence  that  kings  wore 
the  striped  toga*,  that  figured  cloths  were  in  use  even  in  the  days  of  Homer : 
and  that  these  gave  rise  to  the  triumphal.  To  produce  this  effect  with  the  nee- 
dle was  the  invention  of  the  Phrygians,  on  which  account  cloths  so  embroidered 
have  been  called  Phrygionic.  In  the  same  part  of  Asia  king  Attalus  (see  Part 
I.  p.  88.)  discovered  the  art  of  inserting  a  woof  of  gold :  from  which  circumstance 
the  Attalic  cloths  received  their  name.  Babylon  first  obtained  celebrity  by  its 
method  of  diversifying  the  picture  with  different  colors,  and  gave  its  name  to 
textures  of  this  description.  But  to  weave  with  a  great  number  of  leashes,  so  as  to 
produce  the  cloths  called  polymita  (i.  e.  damask  cloths),  was  first  taught  in  Alex- 
andria ;  to  divide  by  squares  (i.  e.  plaids)  in  Gaul.  Metellus  Scipio  brought  it  as 
an  accusation  against  Cato,  that  even  in  his  time  Babylonian  coverlets  for  triclinia 
were  sold  for  800,000  sesterces  ($30,000),  although  the  emperor  Nero  lately 
gave  for  them  no  less  than  4,000,000  sesterces  (about  $150,000).  The  prcetexta 
of  Servius  Tullius,  covering  the  statue  of  Fortune  which  he  dedicated,  remained 
until  the  death  of  Sejanus,  and  it  is  wonderful  that  they  had  neither  decayed  of 
themselves  nor  been  injured  by  the  worms  of  moths  through  the  space  of  560 
years.  We  have,  moreover,  seen  the  fleeces  of  living  sheep  dyed  with  purple, 
with  the  coccus,  or  the  murex,  in  pieces  of  bark  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  luxury 
appearing  to  force  this  upon  them  as  if  it  were  their  nature. 

"  In  the  sheep  itself  the  excellence  of  the  breed  is  sufficiently  shown  by  the 
shortness  of  the  legs  and  the  clothing  of  the  belly.  Those  which  have  naked 
bellies  used  to  be  called  apices,  and  were  condemned.  The  tails  of  the  Syrian 
sheep  are  a  cubit  broad,  and  in  that  part  they  bear  a  great  quantity  of  wool.  It 
is  thought  premature  to  castrate  lambs  before  they  are  five  months  old.  In  Spain, 
but  especially  in  Corsica,  there  is  a  race  of  animals  called  musmons,  resembling 
sheep,  except  that  their  covering  is  more  like  goats'-hair.  The  ancients  called 
the  mixed  breed  of  sheep  and  musmons  Umbri.  Sh&ep  have  a  very  weak  head, 
on  which  account  they  are  obliged  to  turn  from  the  sun  in  feeding.  They  are 
most  foolish  animals.  Where  they  have  been  afraid  to  enter,  they  follow  one 
dragged  along  by  the  horn.  They  live  ten  years  at  the  longest,  but  in  ^Ethiopia 
thirteen  years.    Goats  live  there  eleven  years,  and  in  other  countries  eight  at  the 

most  In  Cilicia  and  about  the  Syrtes,  goats  have  a  shaggy 

coat,  which  admits  of  being  shorn." 

LIB.  VI.  c.  5. 

"  The  remaining-  shores  are  occupied  by  savage  nations,  as  the  Melanchlaeni 
and  Coraxi,  Dioscurias,  a  city  of  the  Colchians,  near  the  river  Anthemus,  being 
now  deserted,  although  formerly  so  illustrious,  that  Timosthenes  has  recorded  that 
three  hundred  nations  used  to  resort  to  it,  speaking  different  languages ;  and  that 
business  was  afterwards  transacted  on  our  part  through  the  medium  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  interpreters." 

*  The  toga  worn  by  the  kings  and  other  supreme  magistrates  among  the  Ro- 
mans was  called  trabea  from  the  stripes,  which  were  compared  to  the  joists  or 
rafters  of  a  building  (trabes). 


404 


ON  THE  ORIGIN  AND  MANUFACTURE  OP 


APPENDIX  B. 

ON  THE  ORIGIN  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  LINEN  AND 
COTTON  PAPER. 

THE  INVENTION  OF  LINEN  PAPER  PROVEN  TO  BE  OF  EGYPTIAN  ORIGIN, 
 COTTON  PAPER  MANUFACTURED  BY  THE  BUCHARIANS  AND  ARABI- 
ANS, A.  D.  704. 

Wehrs  gives  the  invention  of  Linen  paper  to  Germany — Schonemann  to  Italy — 
Opinion  of  various  writers,  ancient  and  modern — Linen  paper  produced  in 
Egypt  from  mummy-cloth,  AD.  1200— Testimony  of  Abdollatiph— Europe 
indebted  to  Egypt  for  linen  paper  until  the  eleventh  century — Cotton  paper- — 
The  knowledge  of  manufacturing,  how  procured,  and  by  whom — Advantages 
of  Egyptian  paper  manufacturers — Clugny's  testimony — Egyptian  manuscript 
of  linen  paper  bearing  date  A.  D.  1100 — Ancient  water-marks  on  linen  paper 
— Linen  paper  first  introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Saracens  of  Spain — The 
Wasp  a  paper-maker — Manufacture  of  paper  from  shavings  of  wood,  and  from 
the  stalks  or  leaves  of  Indian-corn. 

No  part  of  the  Res  Diplomatica  has  been  more  frequently- 
discussed  than  the  question  respecting  the  origin  of  paper  made 
from  linen  rags.  The  inquiry  is  interesting  on  account  of  the 
unspeakable  importance  of  this  material  in  connection  with  the 
progress  of  knowledge  and  all  the  means  of  civilization,  and  it 
also  claims  attention  from  the  philologist  as  an  aid  in  determining 
the  age  of  manuscripts. 

Wehrs  refers  to  a  document  written  A.  D.  1308  as  the  oldest 
known  specimen  of  linen  paper ;  and,  as  the  invention  must 
have  been  at  least  a  little  previous  to  the  preparation  of  this 
document,  he  fixes  upon  1300  as  its  probable  date*.  Yarious 
writers  on  the  subject,  as  Yon  Murr,  Breitkopf,  Schonemann, 
&c.,  concur  in  this  opinion. 

Gotthelf  Fischer,  in  his  Essay*  on  Paper-markst,  cites  an 


*  Vom  Papier,  p.  309,  343. 

+  This  Essay,  translated  into  French,  is  published  by  Jansen,  in.  his  Essai  sur 
Porigine  de  la  gravure  en  bois  et  en  taille-douee,  Paris  1808,  tome  i.  p.  357-385. 


LINEN  AND  COTTON  PAPER. 


405 


extract  from  an  account  written  in  1301  on  linen  paper.  In 
this  specimen  the  mark  is  a  circle  surmounted  by  a  sprig,  at  the 
end  of  which  is  a  star.  The  paper  is  thick,  firm,  and  well 
grained;  and  its  water-lines  and  water-marks  (yergures  et 
pontuseanx)  may  readily  be  distinguished. 

The  date  was  carried  considerably  higher  by  Schwandner, 
Principal  Keeper  of  the  Imperial  Library  at  Vienna,  who  found 
among  the  charters  of  the  Monastery  of  Goss  in  Upper  Stiria 
one  in  a  state  of  decay,  only  seven  inches  long  and  three  wide. 
So  highly  did  he  estimate  the  value  of  this  curious  relic  as  to 
publish  in  1788  a  full  account  of  his  discovery  in  a  thin  quarto 
volume,  which  bears  the  following  title,  "  Chartam  linteam 
antiquissimam,  omnia  hactenas  prodncta  specimina  estate 
sua  superantem,  ex  cimelus  Bibliothecai  Augustas  Vindobo- 
nensis  exponit  Jo.  Ge.  Schwandner"  fyc.  The  document  is  a 
mandate  of  Frederick  II.  Emperor  of  the  Romans,  entrusting 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Saltzburg  and  the  Duke  of  Austria  the 
determination  of  a  dispute  between  the  Duke  of  Carinthia  and 
the  Monastery  of  Goss  respecting  the  property  of  the  latter  in 
Carinthia.  Schwandner  proves  the  date  of  it  to  be  1243.  He 
does  not  say  whether  it  has  any  lines  or  water-mark,  but  is  quite 
satisfied  from  its  flexibility  and  other  qualities,  that  it  is  linen. 
Although  on  the  first  discovery  of  this  document  some  doubt 
was  expressed  as  to  its  genuineness,  it  appears  to  have  risen  in 
estimation  with  succeeding  writers  ;  and  we  apprehend  it  is 
rather  from  inadvertence  than  from  any  deficiency  in  the  evi- 
dence, that  it  is  not  noticed  at  all  by  Schonemann,  Ebert, 
Delandine,  or  by  Home.  Due  attention  is,  however,  bestowed 
upon  it  by  August  Friedrich  Pfeiffer  JJber  Bucher-Hand- 
schriften^  Erlangen  1810,  p.  39,  40. 

With  regard  to  the  circumstances  which  led  to  the  invention 
of  the  paper  now  in  common  use,  or  the  country  in  which  it 
took  place,  we  find  in  the  writers  on  the  subject  from  Polydore 
Virgil  to  the  present  day  nothing  but  conjectures  or  confessions 
of  ignorance.  Wehrs  supposes,  and  others  follow  him,  that  in 
making  paper  linen  rags  were  either  by  accident  or  through 
design  at  first  mixed  with  cotton  rags,  so  as  to  produce  a  paper, 
which  was  partly  linen  and  partly  cotton,  and  that  this  led  by 


406  ON  THE  ORIGIN  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

degrees  to  the  manufacture  of  paper  from  linen  only*.  Wehrs 
also  endeavors  to  claim  the  honor  of  the  invention  for  Germany, 
his  own  country ;  but  Schonemann  gives  that  distinction  to 
Italy,  because  there,  in  the  district  of  Ancona,  a  considerable 
manufacture  of  cotton  paper  was  carried  on  before  the  fourteenth 
centuryt.  AH  however  admit,  that  they  have  no  satisfactory 
evidence  on  the  subject. 

A  clear  light  is  thrown  upon  these  questions  by  a  remark  of 
the  Arabian  physician,  Abdollatiph,  who  visited  Egypt  A.  D. 
1200.  He  informs  ust,  "  that  the  cloth  found  in  the  catacombs, 
and  used  to  envelope  the  mummies,  was  made  into  garments, 
or  sold  to  the  scribes  to  make  paper  for  shop-keepers? 
Having  shown  (See  Part  IV.  Chapter  I.)  that  this  cloth  was 
linen,  the  passage  of  Abdollatiph,  therefore,  may  be  considered 
as  a  decisive  proof,  which,  however,  has  never  been  produced 
as  such,  of  the  manufacture  of  linen  paper  as  early  as  the 
year  1200. 

This  account  coincides  remarkably  with  what  we  know  from 
various  other  sources.  Professor  Tychsen,  in  his  learned  and 
curious  dissertation  on  the  use  of  paper  from  Papyrus  (publish- 
ed in  the  Commentationes  Reg.  Soc.  Gottingensis  Recent i- 
ores,  vol.  iv.  A.  D.  1820),  has  brought  abundant  testimonies  to 
prove  that  Egypt  supplied  all  Europe  with  this  kind  of 
paper  until  towards  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century.  The 
use  of  it  was  then  abandoned,  cotton  paper  being  employed  in- 
stead. The  Arabs  in  consequence  of  their  conquests  in 
Bucharia  had  learnt  the  art  of  making  cotton  paper  about  the 
year  704,  and  through  them  or  the  Saracens  it  was  introduced 


*  Vom  Papier,  p.  183.  t  Diplomatik,  vol .  i.  p.  494. 

X  Chapter  iv.  p.  188  of  Silvestre  de  Sacy's  French  translation,  p.  221  of  Wahl's 
German  translation.  This  interesting  passage  was  translated  as  follows  by  Ed- 
ward Pococke,  the  younger  : — "  Et  qui  ex  Arabibus,  incolisve  Bifse,  aliisve,  has 
areas  indagant,  haec  integumenta  diripiunt,  quodque  in  iis  rapiendum  invenitur ; 
et  conficiunt  sibi  vestes,  aut  ea  chartariis  vendunt  ad  eonficiendam  chartam  em- 
poreaticam." 

Silvestre  de  Sacy  (Notice,  &c),  animadverting  on  White's  version  which  is 
entirely  different,  expresses  his  approbation  of  Pococke's,  from  which  Wahl's  does 
not  materially  differ. 


LINEN  AND  COTTON  PAPER. 


407 


into  Europe  in  the  eleventh  century*.  We  may  therefore  con- 
sider it  as  in  the  highest  degree  probable,  that  the  mode  of 
making  cotton  paper  was  known  to  the  paper-makers  of  Egypt. 
At  the  same  time  endless  quantities  of  linen  cloth,  the  best  of 
all  materials  for  the  manufacture  of  paper,  were  to  be  obtained 
from  the  catacombs. 

If  we  put  together  these  circumstances,  we  cannot  but  per- 
ceive how  they  conspire  to  illustrate  and  justify  the  statement 
of  Abdollatiph.  We  perceive  the  interest  which  the  great 
Egyptian  paper-manufacturers  had  in  the  improvement  of  their 
article,  and  the  unrivalled  facilities  which  they  possessed  for 
this  purpose ;  and  thus,  we  apprehend,  the  direct  testimony  of 
an  eye-witness  of  the  highest  reputation  for  veracity  and  intel- 
ligence, supported  as  it  is  by  collateral  probabilities,  clears  up  in 
a  great  measure  the  long-agitated  question  respecting  the  origin 
of  paper  such  as  we  now  commonly  use  for  writing. 

The  evidence  being  carried  thus  far,  we  may  take  in  connec- 
tion with  it  the  following  passage  from  Petrus  Cluniacensis : — 

Sed  cojusmodi  librum?  Si  talem  quales  quotidie  in  usu  legendi  habemus,  uti- 
que  ex  pellibus  arietum,  hircorum,  vel  vitulorum,  sive  ex  biblis,  vel  juncis  orien- 
talium  paludum,  aut  ex  rasuris  veterum  pannorum,  seu  ex  quaiibet  alia  forte  vili- 
ore  materia  compactos,  et  pennis  avium  vel  calamis  palustrium  locorum,  quaiibet 
tinctura  infectis  descriptos. — Tractatus  adv.  Judceos,  c.  v.  in  Max.  Bibl.  vet. 
Patrum,  torn.  xxii.  p.  1014. 

All  the  writers  upon  this  subject,  except  Trombelh,  suppose 
the  Abbot  of  Clugny  to  allude  in  the  phrase  "  ex  rasuris  vete- 
rum pannorum"  to  the  use  of  woollen  and  cotton  cloth  only, 
and  not  of  linen.  But,  as  we  are  now  authorized  to  carry  up 
the  invention  of  linen  paper  higher  than  before,  and  as  the 
mention  of  it  by  Abdollatiph  justifies  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
manufactured  in  Egypt  some  time  before  his  visit  to  that  country 
in  1200,  we  may  reasonably  conjecture  that  Petrus  Cluniacen- 
sis alluded  to  the  same  fact.  The  treatise  above  quoted  is 
supposed  to  have  been  written  A.  D.  1120.  The  account  of 
the  materials  used  for  making  books  appears  to  be  full  and  ac- 


*  Wehrs  vom  Papier,  p.  131,  144,  Note.    Breitkopf,  p.  81. 


408  ON  THE  ORIGIN  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

curate.  The  expression  "scrapings  of  old  cloths"  agrees  ex- 
actly with  the  mode  of  making  paper  from  linen  rags,  but  is 
not  in  accordance  with  any  facts  known  to  us  respecting  the 
use  of  woollen  or  cotton  cloth.  The  only  objection  against  this 
view  of  the  subject  is,  that,  as  Peter  of  Clugny  had  not  when 
he  wrote  this  passage  travelled  eastward  of  France,  we  can 
scarcely  suppose  him  to  have  been  sufficiently  acquainted  with 
the  manna's  and  productions  of  Egypt  to  introduce  any  allu- 
sion to  their  newly  invented  mode  of  making  paper.  But  we 
know  that  the  Abbey  of  Clugny  had  more  than  300  churches, 
colleges,  and  monasteries  dependent  on  it,  and  that  at  least  two 
of  these  were  in  Palestine  and  one  at  Constantinople.  The 
intercourse  which  must  have  subsisted  in  this  way  between  the 
Abbey  of  Clugny  and  the  Levant,  may  account  for  the  Abbot 
Peter's  acquaintance  with  the  fact.  It  is  therefore  probable  that 
he  alludes  to  the  manufacture  of  paper  in  Egypt  from  the 
cloth  of  mummies,  which  on  this  supposition  had  been  invented 
early  in  the  twelfth  century*. 

Another  fact,  which  not  only  coincides  with  all  the  evidence 
now  produced,  but  carries  the  date  of  the  invention  still  a  little 
higher,  is  the  description  of  the  manuscript  No.  787,  contain- 
ing an  Arabic  version  of  the  Aphorisms  of  Hippocrates,  in 
Casiri's  Bibliotheca  Arabico-Hispana  Escurialensis,  torn.  i. 
p.  235.  This  MS.  was  probably  brought  from  Egypt,  or  the 
East.  It  has  a  date  corresponding  to  A.  D.  1100,  and  is  of 
linen  paper  according  to  Casiri,  who  calls  it  "  Chartaceus." 

"  Codices  chartacei,"  i.  e.  MSS.  on  linen  paper,  as  old  as  the 
thirteenth  century,  are  mentioned  not  unfrequently  in  the  Cat- 
alogues of  the  Escurial,  the  Nani,  and  other  libraries.  Joseph 
Brooks  Yates,  Esq.  P.  S.  A.,  of  West  Dingle  near  Liverpool,  is 
in  possession  of  a  fine  MS.  of  some  of  the  Homilies  of  Chrys- 
ostom,  written  in  all  probability  not  later  than  the  thirteenth 
century.  It  is  on  linen  paper,  w^ith  the  water-lines  perfectly  dis- 
tinct in  both  directions.  The  water-mark  is  a  tower,  the  size  and 


*  Gibbon  says  (vol.  v.  p.  295,  4to  edition),  "  The  inestimable  art  of  transform- 
ing linen  into  paper  has  been  diffused  from  the  manufacture  of  Samarcand  over 
the  Western  world."    This  assertion  appears  to  be  entirely  destitute  of  foundation. 


LINEN  AND  COTTON  PAPER. 


409 


form  of  which  are  shown  in  Plate  IX.  Fig.  18.  From  the  ap- 
pearance of  this  paper,  it  is  probable  that  the  form  or  mould 
may  perhaps  have  been  made  of  thin  rods  of  cane  or  some 
other  vegetable.  These  rods,  however,  may  have  been  metal- 
lic. They  were  placed  so  close,  that  of  the  water-lines  pro- 
duced by  them  17  may  be  counted  in  the  space  of  an  inch,  the 
water-lines  at  right  angles  to  these  being  one  inch  and  a  quar- 
ter apart. 

The  preceding  facts  coincide  with  the  opinion  long  ago  ex- 
pressed by  Prideaux,  who  concluded  that  linen  paper  was  an 
Eastern  invention,  because  "  most  of  the  old  MSS.  in  Arabic 
and  other  oriental  languages  are  written  on  this  sort  of  paper," 
and  that  it  was  first  introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Saracens  of 
Spain*. 

A  few  observations,  by  way  of  concluding  this  part  of  the 
subject,  may  here  be  properly  bestowed  upon  the  material  with 
which  the  wasp-family  construct  their  nests. 

The  wasp  is  a  paper-maker,  and  a  most  perfect  and  intelli- 
gent one.  While  mankind  were  arriving,  by  slow  degrees,  at 
the  art  of  fabricating  this  valuable  substance,  the  wasp  was 
making  it  before  their  eyes,  by  very  much  the  same  process  as 
that  by  which  human  hands  now  manufacture  it  with  the 
best  aid  of  chemistry  and  machinery.  While  some  nations 
carved  their  records  on  wood,  and  stone,  and  brass,  and  leaden 
tablets, — others,  more  advanced,  wrote  with  a  style  on  wax, — 
others  employed  the  inner  bark  of  trees,  and  others  the  skins  of 
animals  rudely  prepared, — the  wasp  was  manufacturing  a  firm 
and  durable  paper.  Even  when  the  papyrus  was  rendered  more 
fit,  by  a  process  of  art,  for  the  transmission  of  ideas  in  writing. 
The  paper  of  the  papyrus  was  formed  of  the  leaves  of  the  plant, 
dried,  pressed,  and  polished  ;  the  wasp  alone  knew  how  to 
reduce  vegetable  fibres  to  a  pulp,  and  then  unite  them  by  a 
size  or  glue,  spreading  the  substance  out  into  a  smooth  and 
delicate  leaf.  This  is  exactly  the  process  of  paper-making.  It 
would  seem  that  the  wasp  knows,  as  the  modern  paper-makers 


*  Old  and  New  Testament  connected,  Part  I.  chapter  7.  p.  393,  3rd  edition, 
folio. 

52 


410  ON  THE  ORIGIN  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

now  know,  that  the  fibres  of  rags,  whether  linen  or  cotton,  are 
not  the  only  materials  that  can  be  used  in  the  formation  of 
paper ;  she  employs  other  vegetable  matters,  converting  them 
into  a  proper  consistency  by  her  assiduous  exertions.  In  some 
respects  she  is  more  skilful  even  than  our  paper-makers,  for  she 
takes  care  to  retain  her  fibres  of  sufficient  length,  by  which  she 
renders  her  paper  as  strong  as  she  requires.  Many  manufac- 
turers of  the  present  day  cut  their  material  into  small  bits,  and 
thus  produce  a  rotten  article.  One  great  distinction  between 
good  and  bad  paper  is  its  toughness  ;  and  this  difference  is 
invariably  produced  by  the  fibre  of  which  it  is  composed  being 
long,  and  therefore  tough ;  or  short,  and  therefore  friable. 

The  wasp  has  been  laboring  at  her  manufacture  of  paper, 
from  her  first  creation,  with  precisely  the  same  instruments  and 
the  same  materials  ;  and  her  success  has  been  unvarying.  Her 
machinery  is  very  simple,  and  therefore  it  is  never  out  of  order. 
She  learns  nothing,  and  forgets  nothing.    Men,  from  time  to 
time,  lose  their  excellence  in  particular  arts,  and  they  are  slow 
in  finding  out  real  improvements.    Such  improvements  are 
often  the  effect  of  accident.    Paper  is  now  manufactured  very 
extensively  by  machinery,  in  all  its  stages  ;  and  thus,  instead  of 
a  single  sheet  being  made  by  hand,  a  stream  of  paper  is  poured 
out,  which  would  form  a  roll  large  enough  to  extend  round  the 
globe,  if  such  a  length  were  desirable.    The  first  experimenters 
on  paper  machinery  in  England,  Messrs.  Fourdrinier,  it  is  said, 
spent  the  enormous  sum  of  40,00QZ.  in  vain  attempts  to  render 
the  machine  capable  of  determining  the  width  of  the  roll ;  and, 
at  last,  accomplished  their  object  at  the  suggestion  of  a  bystander, 
by  a  strap  revolving  upon  an  axis,  at  a  cost  of  three  shillings 
and  sixpence  !    Such  is  the  difference  between  the  workings  of 
human  knowledge  and  experience,  and  those  of  animal  instinct. 
We  proceed  slowly  and  in  the  dark — but  our  course  is  not 
bounded  by  a  narrow  line,  for  it  seems  difficult  to  say  what  is 
the  perfection  of  any  art ;  animals  go  clearly  to  a  given  point — 
but  they  can  go  no  further.    We  may,  however,  learn  some- 
thing from  their  perfect  knowledge  of  what  is  within  their  range. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  if  man  had  attended  in  an  earlier 
state  of  society  to  the  labors  of  wasps,  he  would  have  sooner 


LINEN  AND  COTTON  PAPER. 


411 


known  how  to  make  paper.  We  are  still  behind  in  our  arts 
and  sciences,  because  we  have  not  always  been  observers.  If 
we  had  watched  the  operations  of  insects,  and  the  structure  of 
insects  in  general,  with  more  care,  we  might  have  been  far 
advanced  in  the  knowledge  of  many  arts  which  are  yet  in  their 
infancy,  for  nature  has  given  us  abundance  of  patterns.  We 
have  learnt  to  perfect  some  instruments  of  sound  by  examining 
the  structure  of  the  human  ear ;  and  the  mechanism  of  an 
eye  has  suggested  some  valuable  improvements  in  achromatic 
glasses. 

Reaumur  has  given  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  wasps 
of  Cayenne  {Chart ergus  nidulans),  which  hang  their  nests  in 
trees*.  Like  the  bird  of  Africa  called  the  social  grosbeak  (Loxia 
socia\  they  fabricate  a  perfect  house,  capable  of  containing 
many  hundreds  of  their  community,  and  suspend  it  on  high  out 
of  the  reach  of  attack.  But  the  Cayenne  wasp  is  a  more  expert 
artist  than  the  bird.  He  is  a  pasteboard-maker  ; — and  the 
card  with  which  he  forms  the  exterior  covering  of  his  abode  is 
so  smooth,  so  strong,  so  uniform  in  its  texture,  and  so  white  that 
the  most  skilful  manufacturer  of  this  substance  might  be  proud 
of  the  work.    It  takes  ink  admirably ! 

The  nest  of  the  pasteboard-making  wasp  is  impervious  to 
water.  It  hangs  upon  the  branch  of  a  tree,  and  those  rain- 
drops which  penetrate  through  the  leaves  never  rest  upon  its 
hard  and  polished  surface.  A  small  opening  for  the  entrance 
of  the  insects  terminates  its  funnel-shaped  bottom.  It  is 
impossible  to  unite  more  perfectly  the  qualities  of  lightness  and 
strength. 

Mr.  J.  Rennie,  speaking  of  wasps'  nests,  gives  us  the  following 
interesting  account  of  one  lately  examined  by  him : — "  The 
length,"  says  he,  "  is  about  nine  inches,  six  stout  circular  plat- 
forms stretch  internally  across,  like  so  many  floors,  and  fixed  all 
round  to  the  walls  of  the  nest.  They  are  smooth  above,  with 
hexagonal  cells  on  the  under  surface.  These  platforms  are  not 
quite  flat,  but  rather  concave  above,  like  a  watch-glass  reversed ; 


*  Memoires  sur  les  Insectes,  torn,  vi.,  mem.  vii.    See  also  Bonnet,  vol.  ix. 


412  ON  THE  ORIGIN  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 

the  centre  of  each  platform  is  perforated  for  the  admission  of 
the  wasps,  at  the  extremity  of  a  short  funnel-like  projection,  and 
through  this  access  is  gained  from  story  to  story.  On  each 
platform,  therefore,  can  the  wasps  walk  leisurely  about,  attend- 
ing to  the  pupae  secured  in  the  cells,  which,  with  the  mouths 
downward,  cover  the  ceiling  above  their  heads — the  height  of 
the  latter  being  just  convenient  for  their  work." 

Pendent  wasps'-nests  of  enormous  size  are  found  in  Ceylon, 
suspended  often  in  the  talipot-tree  at  the  height  of  seventy  feet. 
The  appearance  of  these  nests  thus  elevated,  with  the  larger 
leaves  of  the  tree,  used  by  the  natives  as  umbrellas  and  tents, 
waving  over  them,  is  very  singular.  Though  no  species  of 
European  wasp  is  a  storer  of  honey,  yet  this  rule  does  not  apply 
to  certain  species  of  South  America.  In  the  "  Annals  and 
Magazine  of  Natural  History"  for  June,  1841,  will  be  found  a 
detailed  account,  with  a  figure  of  the  pendent  nest  of  a  species 
termed  by  Mr.  A.  White  Myraptera  scutellaris.  The  external 
case  consists  of  stout  cardboard  covered  with  conical  knobs  of 
various  sizes.  The  entrances  are  artfully  protected  by  pent- 
roofs  from  the  weather  and  heavy  rains  ;  and  are  tortuous,  so 
as  to  render  the  ingress  of  a  moth  or  other  large  insect  difficult. 
Internally  are  fourteen  combs,  exclusive  of  a  globular  mass, 
the  nucleus  of  several  circular  combs,  which  are  succeeded 
by  others  of  an  arched  form — that  is,  constituting  segments  of 
circles. 

Good  writing,  printing  and  wrapping  paper,  may  be  procured 
from  the  shavings  of  common  wood.  The  wood  must  be 
reduced  to  shavings  by  the  ordinary  jack-plain  shaving  size. 
The  shavings  are  then  placed  in  a  cistern  or  boiler  sufficiently 
large,  and  covered  with  water,  which  should  be  raised  to  the 
boiling-point.  To  every  one  hundred  pounds  of  the  wood  so 
reduced,  from  twelve  to  eighteen  pounds  of  alkali,  either  vege- 
table or  mineral,  is  to  be  added,  in  proportion  to  its  quality  for 
strength.  If  salts  are  used  they  should  be  reduced  before 
coming  in  contact  with  the  wood.  The  salts  may,  however,  be 
put  in  with  the  water  and  wood  before  reduction,  but  the  first 
method  is  the  most  preferable.    Should  lime  be  used,  there  must 


LINEN  AND  COTTON  PAPER. 


413 


be  a  sufficient,  in  all  cases,  to  equal  twelve  pounds  of  pure  black 
salts.  One  hundred  pounds  of  wood  will,  if  well  attended  to, 
make  from  five  to  seven  reams  of  paper*. 

*  Mr.  Edmund  Shaw,  of  Fenchurch  Street,  London,  obtained  a  patent  in  Eng- 
land bearing  date  September  14,  1837,  for  a  method  of  manufacturing  paper  from 
the  leaves  which  cover  the  ears  of  Indian-corn. 

According  to  this  patent  the  envelopes  or  leaves  which  cover  the  corn  are  in 
the  first  instance  put  into  a  vessel  containing  water.  The  water  may  be  pure  or 
slightly  alkaline  ;  the  water  is  then  boiled  in  the  vessel  into  which  the  aforesaid 
envelopes  or  fellicular  leaves  are  thrown,  after  being  macerated.  When  they 
have  imbibed  water  and  become  thickened  and  swollen,  so  that  the  matter  inter- 
posed between  the  fibres  is  reduced  to  a  state  of  pulp  or  jelly,  a  slight  beating  by 
fulling,  mallet,  or  other  mechanical  means  will  effect  a  separation  of  the  fibre 
from  the  adherent  glutinous  matter,  and  washing  or  rinsing  with  water  during  th© 
beating,  will  cleanse  it  entirely  from  the  glutinous  matter. 

The  fibre  is  then  bleached,  by  immersing,  or  immersing  and  beating  or  stirring 
it  about  in  a  solution  of  chloride  of  lime,  or  with  beating  engines,  as  at  present 
practised  for  the  bleaching  of  rags  in  paper  mills,  and  the  fibre  is  in  like  manner 
reduced  to  pulp,  and  paper  manufactured  therefrom,  or  the  quality  of  the  paper 
may  be  varied  by  the  admixture  of  a  portion  of  rags  or  other  filamentous  sub- 
stance. 

It  may  be  well  to  remark,  that  some  attempts  to  produce  paper  from  the  above 
mentioned  material,  have  been  made,  but  were  abandoned  from  the  incapability 
of  producing  good  white  paper. 

The  patentee  claims  the  mode,  or  process,  above  described  of  making  white  pa- 
per by  the  application  of  bleached  pulp,  produced  from  the  stalks  or  leaves  of  In- 
dian-corn. 


414 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


APPENDIX  C. 

ON  FELT. 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF  FELTING  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 

Felting  more  ancient  than  weaving — Felt  used  in  the  East — Use  of  it  by  the 
Tartars— Felt  made  of  goats' -hair  by  the  Circassians — Use  of  felt  in  Italy  and 
Greece — Cap  worn  by  the  Cynics,  Fishermen,  Mariners,  Artificers,  &c. — 

Cleanthes  compares  the  moon  to  a  skull-cap — Desultores — Vulcan — Ulysses  

Phrygian  bonnet — Cap  worn  by  the  Asiatics — Phrygian  felt  of  Camels'-hair — 
Its  great  stiffness — Scarlet  and  purple  felt  used  by  Babylonish  decorators — 
Mode  of  manufacturing  Felt — Northern  nations  of  Europe — Cap  of  liberty — 
Petasus — Statue  of  Endymion — Petasus  in  works  of  ancient  art — Hats  of  Thes- 
saly  and  Maoedonia — Laconian  or  Arcadian  hats — The  Greeks  manufacture 
Felt  9  jO  B.  C. — Mercury  with  the  pileus  and  petasus — Miscellaneous  uses  of 
Felt. 

There  seems  no  reason  to  question  the  correctness  of  Pro- 
fessor Beckmann's  observation*,  that  the  making  of  felt  was  in- 
vented before  weavingt.  The  middle  and  northern  regions  of 
Asia  are  occupied  by  Tartars  and  other  populous  nations,  whose 
manners  and  customs  appear  to  have  continued  unchanged 
from  the  most  remote  antiquityt,  and  to  whose  simple  and  uni- 
form mode  of  existence  this  article  seems  to  be  as  necessary  as 
food.  Felt  is  the  principal  substance  both  of  their  clothing  and 
of  their  habitations.  Carpini,  who  in  the  year  1246  went  as 
ambassador  to  the  great  Khan  of  the  Moguls,  Mongals,  or 
Tartars,  says,  "  Their  houses  are  round,  and  artificially  made 
like  tents,  of  rods  and  twigs  interwoven,  having  a  round  hole 
in  the  middle  of  the  roof  for  the  admission  of  light  and  the  pas- 
sage of  smoke,  the  whole  being  covered  with  felt,  of  which 


*  Anleitung  zur  TecJinologie,  p.  117,  Note. 

t  See  Gilroy's  Treatise  on  the  Art  of  Weaving,  p.  14. 

t  Malcolm's  Hist,  of  Persia,  ch.  vi.  vol.  i.  pp.  123,  124. 


FELT  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


415 


likewise  the  doors  are  made*?  Very  recently  the  same  ac- 
count of  these  "portable  tents  of  felt"  has  been  given  by  Julius 
von  Klaprotht.  Kupffer  says  of  the  Caratchai,  "  Leurs  larges 
manteaux  de  feutre  leur  servent  en  meme  terns  de  matelas  et 
de  couverturet"  The  large  mantle  of  felt,  here  mentioned,  is 
used  for  the  same  purpose  in  the  neighboring  country  of  Cir- 
cassian One  of  these  mantles  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr. 
Urquhart  was  made  of  black  goats'-hair,  and  had  on  the  out- 
side a  long  shaggy  villus.  The  Circassians  sleep  under  this 
mantle  by  night,  and  wear  it,  when  required,  over  their  other 
dress  by  day.  A  similar  article  is  thus  described  by  Colonel 
Leake II :  the  postillions  in  Phrygia  "wear  a  cloak  of  white 
camels'-hair,  half  an  inch  thick,  and  so  stiff  that  the  cloak 
stands  without  support,  when  set  upright  on  the  ground.  There 
are  neither  sleeves  nor  hood  ;  but  only  holes  to  pass  the  hands 
through,  and  projections  like  wings  upon  the  shoulders  for  the 
purpose  of  turning  off  the  rain.  It  is  the  manufacture  of  the 
country."  The  Chinese  traveller,  Chy  Fa  Hian,  who  visited 
India  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  says,  that  the  people  of 
Chen  Chen,  a  kingdom  in  a  mountainous  district  situated  about 
the  Lake  of  Lob,  wore  dresses  like  those  of  the  Chinese,  except 
that  they  made  use  of  felt  and  stuffs  (du  feutre  et  des  etoffes^). 
In  conformity  with  the  prevailing  use  of  this  manufacture  in 


*  Kerr's  Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  128.  See  also  p.  167, 
where  the  same  facts  are  related  by  William  de  Rubruquis. 

The  account  which  Herodotus  gives  (iv.  23)  of  the  habitations  of  the  Argippcei 
evidently  alludes  to  customs  similar  to  those  of  the  modern  Tartars.  He  says, 
"  They  live  under  trees,  covering  the  tree  in  winter  with  strong  and  thick  undyed 
felt  (ttiXo)  cTsyvai  \evK(o),  and  removing  the  felt  in  summer."  Among  the  ceremo- 
nies observed  by  the  Scythians  in  burying  the  dead,  Herodotus  also  mentions  the 
erection  of  three  stakes  of  wood,  which  were  surrounded  with  a  close  covering  of 
woollen  felt  (iv.  73).  Also,  in  the  next  section  but  one  (iv.  75.)  there  is  an  evi- 
dent allusion  to  the  practice  of  living  under  tents  made  of  felt  (yiroSovovat  v-wdrovs 

t  Reise  in  dem  Kaucasus  und  nach  Georgien,  ch.  vi.  p.  161. 
t  Voyage  dans  les  Environs  du  Mont  Elbrouz.    St.  Petersburg,  1829,  4to, 
p.  20. 

§  Travels  in  Circassia,  by  Edmund  Spencer. 

|1  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  Asia  Minor,  p.  38. 

IT  Ch.  ii.  p.  7,  of  Remusat's  Translation,  Par.  1836,  4to. 


416 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


the  colder  regions  of  Asia,  scarlet  or  purple  felt  (such  as  that 
lately  re-invented  at  Leeds,  in  England),  was  used  by  the 
Babylonish  decorators  for  the  drapery  of  the  funeral  pile,  when 
Alexander  celebrated  the  splendid  obsequies  of  Hepheestion  :  for 
so  we  must  understand  the  expression  cpoivixiSeg  mUrai  (Diod.  Sic. 
xvii.  115.  p.  251,  Wess.).  Xenophon  (Cycrop.  v.  5.  §  7.) 
mentions  the  use  of  felt  manufactured  in  Media,  as  a  covering 
for  chairs  and  couches.  The  Medes  also  used  bags  and  sacks 
of  felt  (Athenseus,  1.  xii.  p.  540  c.  Casaub.). 

The  process,  by  which  wool  is  converted  into  felt,  was  called 
by  the  Greeks  mXwis  (Plato  de  Leg.  1.  viii.  p.  115.  ed.  Bek- 
ker),  literally  a  compression,  from  TrtXew,  to  compress*.  The 
ancient  Greek  scholion  on  the  passage  of  Plato  here  referred 
to  thus  explains  the  term:  TliXww 

ytvophrjg  eadnros,  i.  e.  u  cloth  made  by  the  thickening  of  wool." 
With  this  definition  of  felt  agrees  the  following  description  of  a 
viraaos  in  a  Greek  epigram,  which  records  the  dedication  of  it  to 
Mercury : — 

Eoi  tov  TTiKr\BtvTa  Si1  cv^dvTOV  rpi^og  djjivov, 
'Ep/xa,  KaXXtreX^j  eKpC/xacre  Treraaov. 

Brunck,  Anal.  ii.  41. 

The  art  of  felting  was  called  h  thA^i^  (Plato,  Polit.  ii.  2.  p.  296, 
ed.  Bekker).  According  to  the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin  glos- 
saries, and  to  Julius  Pollux  (vii.  30),  a  felt-maker,  or  hatter,  was 
monoids  or  Tu\(OTOKoids,  in  Latin  coactiliarius.  From  niXog  [dim. 
mXtov,  second  dim.  7rtXi'<w),  the  proper  term  forfeit  in  general, 
derived  from  the  root  of  TrtXfw,  came  the  verb  TnXdw,  signifying  to 
felt,  or  to  make  felt,  and  from  this  latter  verb  was  formed  the 
ancient  participle  rrtXwrd?,  felted,  which  again  gave  origin  to 

irikwToiroiog. 

It  may  be  observed,  that  our  English  word  felt  is  evidently 
a  participle  or  a  derivative,  and  that  its  verb  or  root  Fel  ap- 
pears to  be  the  same  with  the  root  of  ttiX^. 

The  Latin  cogo,  which  was  used,  like  the  Greek  mXe^  to  de- 


*  Xenophanes  thought  that  the  moon  was  a  compressed  cloud  (yfyos  -neinXrinsvov, 
Stobsei  Eclog.  i.  27.  p.  550,  ed.  Heeren)  ;  and  that  the  air  was  emitted  from  the 
earth  by  its  compression  (niXrjaig,  i.  23.  p.  484). 


FELT  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


417 


note  the  act  of  compressing,  or  forcing  the  separate  hairs  to- 
gether, gave  origin  to  the  participle  coactus,  and  its  derivative 
coactilis.  Pliny  (H.  N.  viii.  48.  s.  73.),  after  speaking  of 
woven  stuffs,  mentions  in  the  following  terms  the  use  of  wool 
for  making  felt :  "  Lanae  et  per  se  coactee  (al.  coactam)  vestem 
ficiunt,"  i.  e.  "  Parcels  of  wool,  driven  together  by  themselves, 
make  cloth."  This  is  a  very  exact,  though  brief  description  of 
the  process  of  felting.  The  following  monumental  inscription 
(Gruter,  p.  648,  n.  4.)  contains  the  title  Lanarius  coactiliarius, 
meaning  a  manufacturer  of  woollen  felt : — 

M.  Ballorius  M.  L.  Lariseus,  Lanarius  coactiliarius, 

CONJUGA  CARISSIM^:  B.  M.  FEC. 

Helvius  Successus,  the  son  of  a  freed  man,  and  the  father 
of  the  Roman  emperor  Pertinax,  was  a  hatter  in  Liguria 
(tabernam  coactiliariam  in  Liguria  exercuerat,  Jul.  Cap. 
Pertinax,  c.  3.).  Pertinax  himself,  being  fond  of  money,  hav- 
ing the  perseverance  expressed  by  his  agnomen,  and  having 
doubtless,  in  the  course  of  his  expeditions  into  the  East,  made 
valuable  observations  respecting  the  manufacture  which  he 
had  known  from  his  boyhood,  continued  and  extended  the 
same  business,  carrying  it  on  and  conveying  his  goods  to  a  dis- 
tance by  the  agency  of  slaves.  The  Romans  originally  receiv- 
ed the  use  of  felt  together  with  its  name*  from  the  Greeks 
(Plutarch,  Numa,  p.  117,  ed.  Steph.).  The  Greeks  were  ac- 
quainted with  it  as  early  as  the  age  of  Homer,  who  lived  about 
900  B.  C.  (J|.  x.  265),  and  Hesiod  (Op.  et  Dies,  542,  546). 

The  principal  use  of  felt  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
was  to  make  coverings  of  the  head  for  the  male  sex,  and  the 
most  common  cover  made  of  this  manufacture  was  a  simple 
skull-cap,  i.  e.  a  cap  exactly  fitted  to  the  shape  of  the  head,  as 
is  shown  in  Plate  VIII.  fig.  1.  taken  from  a  sepulchral  bas-relief 
which  was  found  by  Mr.  Dodwell  in  Bceotiat.  The  original  is 
as  large  as  life.  The  person  represented  appears  to  have  been 
a  Cynic  philosopher.     He  leans  upon  the  staff  (baculus. 


*  Pileus  or  Pileum  (Non.  Marc,  iii.,  pilea  virorum  sunt,  Serviu3  in  Virg,  Mn, 
ix.  616.),  dim.  Pileolus  or  Pileolum  (Colum.  de  Arbor.  25). 
t  Tour  through  Greece)  vol.  i.  pp.  242,  243. 

53 


418 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


pdKrpov,  aKrjnrpov)  ;  he  is  clothed  in  the  blanket  (pallium,  xXatva, 
rptfav)  with  one  end,  which  is  covered,  over  his  left  breast,  and 
another  hanging  behind  over  his  left  shoulder ;  he  wears  the 
beard  (barba,  ™ya>i/) ;  his  head  is  protected  by  the  simple  skull- 
cap (pileus,  TnXo?).  All  these  were  distinct  characteristics  of 
the  philosopher,  and  more  especially  of  the  Cynic*.  The  dog 
also  probably  marked  his  sect.  Leonidas  of  Tarentum,  in  his 
enumeration  of  the  goods  belonging  to  the  Cynic  Posocharesf, 
including  a  dog-collar  (kwovxov)  ,  mentions,  Kal  nTXov  KcQaXds  ov%  datas 
cKCTraudu,  i.  e.  "  The  cap  of  felt,  which  covered  his  unholy  head." 
This  passage  may  be  regarded  as  a  proof,  that  among  the 
Greeks,  though  not  among  the  Romans,  the  cap  of  felt  was 
worn  by  very  poor  men.  It  also  proves  that  this  cap,  which 
was  the  J ess  of  the  modern  Greeks,  was  worn  by  philosophers, 
and  therefore  throws  light  on  a  passage  of  Antiphanes  (ap. 
Allien,  xii.  63.  p.  545  a)  describing  a  philosopher  of  a  different 
character,  who  was  very  elegantly  dressed,  having  a  small  cap 
of  fine  felt  (mKhov  uTmXov),  also  a  small  white  blanket,  a  beautiful 
tunic,  and  a  neat  stick.  When  Cleanthes  advanced  the  doc- 
trine, that  the  moon  had  the  shape  of  a  skull-cap  {jn\ou6r\  ru 
a%¥aTli  Stobaei  Eel.  Phys.  1.  27.  p.  554,  ed.  Heeren),  he  proba- 
bly intended  to  account  for  its  phases  from  its  supposed  hemis- 
pherical form.  A  cap  of  a  similar  form  and  appearance,  though 
perhaps  larger  and  not  so  closely  fitted  to  the  crown  of  the 
head,  was  worn  by  fishermen!.  In  an  epigram  of  Philippus§, 
describing  the  apparatus  of  a  fisherman,  the  author  mentions 
ttIXov  dufwprivou  vSacnaaeyn,  "  the  cap  encompassing  his  head  and 
protecting  it  from  wet."  Figure  2.  in  Plate  VIII.  represents  a 
small  statue  of  a  fisherman  belonging  to  the  Townley  Collection 
in  the  British  Museum.  His  cap  is  slightly  pointed  and  in  a 
degree,  which  was  probably  favorable  to  the  discharge  of  water 
from  its  surface.  Hesiod  recommends,  that  agricultural  laborers 
should  wear  the  same  defence  from  cold  and  showers  (Op.  et 


*  See  the  articles  Baculus,  Barba,  Pallium,  p.  703,  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  Greek 
and  Roman  Antiquities. 

t  Brunck,  Anal.  i.  p.  223.  Nos.  x.  xi.  t  Theocrit.  xxi.  13. 

§  Brunck,  Anal.  ii.  p.  212.  No.  v. 


FELT  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


419 


Dies,  545-547).  The  use  of  this  cap  by  seamen  was  no 
doubt  the  ground,  on  which  the  painter  Nicoraachus  represented 
Ulysses  wearing  one.  "  Hie  primus,"  says  Pliny  (H.  N.  xxxv. 
36.  s.  22.),  "  Ulyssi  addidit  pileum*."  For  the  same  reason  the 
cap  is  an  attribute  of  the  Dioscuri ;  and  hence  two  caps  with 
stars  above  them  are  often  shown  on  the  coins  of  maritime 
cities  and  of  others  where  Castor  and  Pollux  were  worshipped. 
Figure  3.  of  Plate  VIII.  is  taken  from  a  brass  coin  of  Dioscurias 
in  Colchis,  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  On  the  reverse 
is  the  name  AIOHKOYPIAAOH  Figure  4.  represents  both  sides 
of  a  silver  coin  in  the  same  collection,  with  the  legend 
BPETTmN.  It  belongs  to  Bruttium  in  South  Italy.  On  the 
one  side  Castor  and  Pollux  are  mounted  on  horseback.  They 
wear  the  chlamys  and  carry  palm  branches  in  their  hands. 
Their  caps  have  a  narrow  brim.  The  reverse  shows  their 
heads  only,  and  their  caps,  without  brims,  are  surrounded  by 
wreaths  of  myrtle.  The  cornucopia  is  added  as  an  emblem 
of  prosperity.  Figure  5.  is  from  a  brass  coin  of  Amasia 
(aMASDEIAE)  in  Pontus.  It  shows  the  cornucopia  between  the 
two  skull-caps.  Charon  also  was  represented  wTith  the  mar- 
iner's or  fishermen's  cap,  as,  for  example,  in  the  bas-relief  in  the 
Museo  Pio-Clementino,  torn.  iv.  tav.  35,  and  the  painted  vase 
in  Stackelberg's  Graber  der  Hellenen,  t.  47,  48,  which  is 
copied  in  Becker's  Charicles,  vol.  ii.  taf.  i.  fig.  1,  and  in  Smith's 
Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  p.  404. 

A  pileus  of  the  same  general  form  was  wTorn  by  artificers ; 
and  on  this  account  it  was  attributed  to  Vulcan  and  to  Deedalus, 
who,  as  well  as  Ulysses  and  Charon,  are  commonly  found 
wearing  it  in  works  of  ancient  art.  Arnobius  says,  that  Vul- 
can was  represented  "  cum  pileo  et  malleo" — "  fabrili  expedi- 
tione  succinctus :"  and  that  on  the  other  hand  Mercury  was 
represented  with  the  petasus,  or  "  petasunculus,"  on  his  headt. 

*  Compare  Eustathius  in  Horn.  II.  x.  265,  as  quoted  below. 

t  Adv.  Gentes,  lib.  vi.  p.  674,  ed.  Erasmi.  When  Lucian  ludicrously  represents 
Jupiter  wearing  a  skull-cap,  which  we  may  suppose  to  have  been  like  that  of  the 
philosopher  in  Plate  VIII.  figure  l.he  must  have  intended  to  describe  the  "  Father 
of  gods  and  men"  as  a  weak  old  man  \  AielXe  rr\v  KecpaXnv  KareveyKdov'  kcu  ei  y€[xrj 
d  m\og  avria^et  Kal  to  no\v  rrjs  n\nyns  dmSi^arOj  &LC.  Dial.  Deor.,  vol.  ii.  p.  314.  ed, 

Hemster 


420 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


This  observation  is  confirmed  by  numerous  figures  of  these 
two  divinities,  if  we  suppose  the  term  petasus,  which  will  be 
more  fully  illustrated  hereafter,  to  have  meant  a  hat  with  a 
brim,  and  pileus  to  have  denoted  properly  a  fessor  cap  without 
a  brim. 

Fig.  6.  Plate  VIII.  is  taken  from  a  small  bronze  statue  of 
Vulcan  in  the  Royal  Collection  at  Berlin.  He  wears  the  exo- 
mis,  and  holds  his  hammer  in  the  right  hand  and  his  tongs  in 
the  left.  For  other  specimens  of  the  head-dress  of  Vulcan  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  Museo  Pio-Clementino:  t.  iv.  tav.  xi., 
and  to  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities, 
p.  589. 

Plate  VIII.  is  intended  still  further  to  illustrate  some  of  the 
most  common  varieties  in  the  form  of  the  ancient  skull-cap. 
Figure  7.  is  a  head  of  Vulcan  from  a  medal  of  the  Aurelian 
family*.  Figure  8.  is  the  head  of  Daedalus  from  a  bas-relief, 
formerly  belonging  to  the  Villa  Borghese,  and  representing  the 
story  of  the  wooden  cow,  which  he  made  for  Pasiphaet.  Fig. 
10.  is  from  a  cameo  in  the  Florentine  collection.  Fig.  9.  is 
the  head  of  a  small  bronze  statue,  wearing  boots  and  the 
exomis,  which  belonged  to  Mr.  R.  P.  Knight,  and  is  now 
in  the  British  Museum.  It  is  engraved  in  the  "Specimens 
of  Ancient  Sculpture  published  by  the  Society  of  Dilettanti," 
vol.  i.  pi.  47.  The  editors  express  a  doubt  whether  this 
statue  was  meant  for  Vulcan  or  Ulysses,  merely  because  the 
god  and  the  hero  were  commonly  represented  wearing  the 
same  kind  of  cap.    Not  only  does  the  expression  of  counte- 

*  Montfaucon,  Ant.  Expl.  t.  i.  pi.  46.  No.  4. 

t  Winckelmann,  Mon.  Ined.  ii.  93.  The  skull-cap,  here  represented  as  worn 
by  Daedalus,  is  remarkably  like  that  which  is  still  worn  by  shepherd  boys  in  Asia 
Minor.  Fig.  12,  in  Plate  VIII.  is  copied  from  an  orijrinal  drawing  of  such  a  Gre- 
cian youth,  procured  by  Mr.  George  Scharf  who  accompanied  Mr.  Fellows  on  his 
second  tour  into  that  country. 

According  to  Herodotus  the  Scythians  had  felted  coverings  for  their  tents,  a 
custom  still  found  among  their  successors,  the  Tartars.  Felting  appears  to  have 
preceded  weaving.  It  is  certainly  a  much  ruder  and  simpler  process :  and,  when 
we  consider  both  the  long  prevalence  of  the  art  among  the  pastoral  inhabitants  of 
the  ancient  Scythia,  and  the  extensive  use  of  its  products  among  them  so  as  to  be 
employed  even  for  their  habitations,  perhaps  we  shall  be  right  in  considering  felt- 
ing as  the  appropriate  invention  of  this  people. 


FELT   BY  THE  ANCIETS. 


421 


nance  decide  the  question ;  but  also  the  small  bronze  of  Mr. 
Knight's  collection  agrees  in  attitude  and  costume  with  many- 
small  statues  of  Yulcan,  who  is  represented  in  all  of  them 
wearing  the  exomis,  holding  the  hammer  and  tongs,  and  hav- 
ing the  felt  cap  on  his  head*.  Fig.  11.  is  another  representa- 
tion of  Ulysses  from  an  ancient  lampt.  It  exhibits  him  tied  to 
the  mast,  while  he  listens  to  the  song  of  the  Sirens.  The  cap 
in  this  figure  is  much  more  elongated  than  in  the  others. 

The  felt  cap  was  worn  not  only  by  desultores,  but  by  others 
of  the  Romans  upon  a  journey,  in  sickness,  or  in  cases  of  unu- 
sual exposure.  Hence  Martial  says  in  Epig.  xiv.  132,  entitled 
"  Pileus," 

Si  possem,  totas  cuperem  misisse  lacernas : 
Nunc  tantum  capiti  munera  mitto  tuo. 

i.  e. 

O  that  a  whole  lacerna  I  could  send  ! 

Let  this  (I  can  no  more)  your  head  defend. 

The  wig  (galerus)  answered  the  same  purpose  for  the  wealthy 
classes  [arrepto  pileo  vel  gcdero,  Sueton.  Nero,  26),  and  the 
mcullus  and  cudo  for  both  rich  and  poor.  On  returning  home 
from  a  party,  a  person  sometimes  carried  his  cap  and  slippers 
under  his  arm  (Hor.  Epist.  1.  xiii.  15). 

The  hats  worn  by  the  Saliit  are  said  by  Dionysius  of  Hali- 
carnassus  to  have  been  "  tall  hats  of  a  conical  form§."  Plu- 
tarch distinctly  represents  them  as  made  of  felt.  He  says  {L 
c),  that  the  flamines  were  so  called  quasi  pilamines,  because 
they  wore  felt  hats,  and  because  in  the  early  periods  of  Roman 
history  it  was  more  common  to  invent  names  derived  from  the 
Greek.  On  coins,  however,  this  official  cap  of  the  Salii  and 
Flamines  is  commonly  oval  like  that  attributed  to  the  Dioscuri. 
We  observe  indeed  continual  variations  in  the  form  of  the  pi- 


*  Montfaucon,  Ant.  Expl.  vol.  i.  pi.  46.  figs.  1.  2.  3 ;  Mus.  Florent.  Gemma 
Ant.  a  Gorio  illustrates,  torn.  ii.  tab.  40.  fig.  3. 

t  Bartoli,  Lucerne  Antiche,  P.  III.  tab.  11.  There  is  a  beautiful  figure  of 
Ulysses  in  Pictures  Antiques  Virgttiani  cod.  Bibl.  Vat.  a  Bartoli,  tab.  103,  taken 
from  a  gem.  In  Winckelmann,  Mon.  Ined.  ii.  No.  154,  he  is  represented  giving 
wine  to  the  Cyclops :  this  figure  is  copied  in  Smith's  Diet.  p.  762. 

t  Smith's  Diet,  of  Gr.  and  R.  Antiquities,  art.  Apex. 

§  Ant.  Rom.  L.  ii. 


422 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


leus  from  hemispherical  to  oval,  and  from  oval  to  conical.  A 
conical  cap  is  seen  on  the  head  of  the  reaper  in  the  wood-cut  to 
the  article  Flax  in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Antiquities,  which  wood-cut  is  taken  from  a  coin  of  one  of  the 
Lagidee,  kings  of  Egypt.  Caps,  regularly  conical  and  still 
more  elongated,  are  worn  by  the  buffoons  or  comic  dancers, 
who  are  introduced  in  an  ancient  mosaic  preserved  in  the  Villa 
Corsini  at  Rome*.  Telephus,  king  of  Mysia,  is  represented  as 
wearing  a  "  Mysian  capt."  This  "  Mysian  cap"  must  have 
been  the  same  which  is  known  by  the  moderns  under  the  name 
of  the  Phrygian  bonnet,  and  with  which  we  are  familiar 
from  the  constant  repetition  of  it  in  statues  and  paintings  of 
Priam,  Paris,  Ganymede!,  Atys,  Perseus,  and  Mithras,  and  in 
short  in  all  the  representations  not  only  of  Trojans  and  Phryg- 
ians, but  of  Amazons  and  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  even  of  nations  dwelling  still  further  to  the  East.  Also, 
when  we  examine  the  works  of  ancient  art  which  contain  rep- 
resentations of  this  Mysian  cap,  we  perceive  that  it  was  a  cone 
bent  into  the  form  in  which  it  is  exhibited,  and  so  bent,  perhaps 
by  use,  but  more  probably  by  design.  This  circumstance  is 
well  illustrated  in  a  bust  of  Parian  marble,  supposed  to  be  in- 
tended for  Paris,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Glyptotek  at  Munich. 
A  drawing  of  it  is  given  in  Plate  VIII.  fig.  13.  The  flaps  of 
the  bonnet  are  turned  up  and  fastened  over  the  top  of  the  head. 
The  stiffness  of  the  material  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  sharp 
angular  appearance  of  that  portion  of  it  which  is  turned  for- 
wards. Mr.  Dodwell,  in  his  Tour  in  Greece  (vol.  i.  p.  134)? 
makes  the  following  observations  on  the  modern  costume,  which 
seems  to  resemble  the  ancient,  except  that  the  ancient  mUs  and 
mYikov  were  probably  of  undyed  wool : — "  The  Greeks  of  the 
maritime  parts,  and  particularly  of  the  islands,  wear  a  red  or 
blue  cap  of  a  conical  form,  like  the  pilidion.  When  it  is  new 
it  stands  upright,  but  it  soon  bends,  and  then  serves  as  a  pocket 


*  Bartoli,  Luc.  Ant.  P.  I.  tab.  35.  f  Aristoph.  Acham.  429. 

X  Stuart,  in  his  Antiquities  of  Athens,  vol.  iii.  ch.  9.  plates  8,  9,  has  engraved 
two  beautiful  statues  of  Telephus  and  Ganymede  from  a  ruined  colonnade  at 
Thessalonica.    In  these  the  cap  is  very  little  pointed. 


FELT   BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


423 


for  the  handkerchief,  and  sometimes  for  the  purse.  Others 
wear  the  red  skull-cap,  or  fess"  The  Lycians,  as  we  are  in- 
formed by  Herodotus  (viii.  92),  wore  caps  of  felt,  which  were 
surrounded  with  feathers.  Some  of  the  Lycian  coins  and  bas- 
reliefs,  however,  show  the  "  Phrygian  bonnet,"  as  it  is  called, 
in  the  usual  form*. 

The  cap  worn  by  the  Persians  is  called  by  Greek  authors 
Kvpfiaaia  or  napaf,  and  seems  to  have  had  the  form  now  under  con- 
sideration. Herodotus,  when  he  describes  the  costume  of  the 
Persian  soldiers  in  the  army  of  Xerxes,  says,  that  they  wore 
light  and  flexible  caps  of  felt,  which  were  called  tiaras.  He 
adds,  that  the  Medes  and  Bactrians  wore  the  same  kind  of  cap 
with  the  Persians,  but  that  the  Cissii  wore  a  mitra  instead  (vii. 
61,  62,  64).  On  the  other  hand  he  says,  that  the  Sacse  wore 
cyrbasi&i  which  were  sharp-pointed,  straight,  and  compact. 
The  Armenians  were  also  called  "weavers  of  felt"  (Brunck, 
AnaL  ii.  p.  146.  No.  22).  The  form  of  their  caps  is  clearly 
shown  in  the  coins  of  the  Emperor  Verus,  one  of  which,  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum,  is  engraved  in  Plate  VIIL  fig.  14. 
The  legend,  surrounding  his  head,  L.  Vervs.  Avg.  Armeni- 
acvs,  refers  to  the  war  in  Armenia.  The  reverse  shows  a  fe- 
male figure  representing  Armenia,  mourning  and  seated  on  the 
ground,  and  surrounded  by  the  emblems  of  Roman  warfare  and 
yictory.  The  caps  represented  on  this  and  other  coins  agree 
remarkably  with  the  forms  still  used  in  the  same  parts  of  Asia. 
Strabo  (L.  xi.  p.  563,  ed.  Sieb.)  says,  that  these  caps  were 
necessary  in  Media  on  account  of  the  cold.    He  calls  the  Per- 


*  Fellows's  Discoveries  in  Lycia,  Plate  35.  Nos.  3,  7.  The  "  Phrygian  bon- 
net" is  seen  in  the  bas-reliefs  brought  from  Xanthus  by  this  intelligent  traveller, 
and  now  deposited  in  the  British  Museum. 

t  Herod,  v.  49.  According  to  Mceris,  v.  Kvppaa'ia,  this  was  the  Attic  term, 
ridpa  meaning  the  same  thing  in  the  common  Greek.  Plutarch  applies  the  latter 
term  to  the  cap  worn  by  the  younger  Cyrus :  ^Airon'mru  Se  rffc  Kzfya'Xrjs  h  ndpa  tov 
K.vpov. — Artaxerxes,  p.  1858.  ed.  Steph. 

The  "  Phrygian  bonnet"  is  called  Phrygia  tiara  in  the  following  lines  of  an 
epitaph  (ap.  Gruter.  p.  1123)  : 

Indueris  teretes  manicas  Phrygiamque  tiaram  ? 
Non  unus  Cybeles  pectore  vivet  Atys. 


424 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


sian  cap  "felt  in  the  shape  of  a  tower"  (L.  xv.  p.  231).  The 
king  of  Persia  was  distinguished  by  wearing  a  stiff  cyrha- 
sia,  which  stood  erect,  whereas  his  subjects  wore  their  tiaras 
folded  and  bent  forwards.*  Hence  in  the  Aves  of  Aristophanes 
the  cock  is  ludicrously  compared  to  the  Great  King,  his  erect 
comb  being  called  his  "cyrbasia."  The  Athenians  no  doubt 
considered  this  form  of  the  tiara  as  an  expression  of  pride  and 
assumption.  It  is  recorded  as  one  of  the  marks  of  arrogance  in 
Apollodorus,  the  Athenian  painter,  that  he  wore  an  "erect  capt." 

The  coin  represented  in  Plate  VIII.  fig.  15.  (taken  from  Patin, 
Imp.  Rom.  Numismata,  Par.  1697,  p.  213)  is  of  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Commodus,  and  belonged  according  to  the  legend 
either  to  Trapezus  in  Cappadocia  or  to  Trapezopolis  in  Caria. 
It  represents  the  god  Lunus  or  Mensis,  who  was  the  moon  con- 
sidered as  of  the  male  sex  agreeably  to  the  ideas  of  many  northern 
and  Asiatic  nations  (Patin,  p.  173).  This  male  moon  or  month 
was,  as  it  seems,  always  represented  with  the  cyrbasia*.  In 
another  coin  published  by  Patin  (I.  c.)  a  cock  stands  at  the  feet 
of  this  divinity,  proving  that  this  was  the  sacred  bird  of  Lunus, 
and  probably  because  the  rayed  form  of  the  cock's  comb  was 
regarded  as  a  natural  type  of  the  cyrbasia,  which  distinguished 
the  kings  of  Persia  and  was  attributed  also  to  this  Oriental 
divinity.  A  lamp  found  on  the  Celian  Mount  at  Rome§  repre- 
sents in  the  centre  Lunus  with  12  rays,  probably  designed  to 
denote  the  12  months  of  the  year,  and  on  the  handle  two 
cocks  pecking  at  their  food.  A  head  of  the  same  divinity,  pub- 
lished by  Hirt  (I.  c.)  from  an  antique  gem  at  Naples,  has  7  stars 
upon  the  cap,  perhaps  referring  to  the  7  planets. 

Instead  of  the  conical  cap  of  the  Asiatics  many  of  the  North- 
ern nations  of  Europe  appear  to  have  worn  a  felt  cap,  the  form 
of  which  was  that  of  a  truncated  cone.  Of  this  a  good  exam- 
ple is  shown  in  the  group  of  Sarmatians,  represented  in  the 


*  Xenoph.  Anab.  ii.  5.  23  ;  Cyrop.  viii.  3,  13.  Clitarchus,  ap.  Schol.  in  Aris- 
toph.  Aves,  487. 

t  Ul\ov6p  B6v.  Hesychius,  s.  v.  %Kiaypa<paf. 
t  Hirt's  Bilderbuch,  p.  88.  tab.  xi.  figs.  8,  9. 
§  Bartoli,  Luc.  Ant.,  P.  II.  tav.  11. 


FELT  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


425 


wood-cut  in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  An- 
tiqnities  (p.  160),  which  is  taken  from  the  Column  of  Trajan. 
The  same  thing  appears  in  various  coins  belonging  to  the 
reign  of  this  Emperor,  two  of  which,  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum,  are  engraved  in  Plate  VIII.  fig.  16.  represents  Dacia 
sitting  as  a  captive  with  her  hands  tied  behind  her  back,  wear- 
ing trowsers  (braces)  and  a  conical  or  oval  cap  with  the  edge 
turned  up.  Figure  17.  represents  Dacia  mourning.  In  each 
we  see  a  Dacian  target  together  with  Roman  armor.  Each 
has  the  same  legend,  Dac.  Cap.  Cos.  V.  P.  P.  S.  P.  Q.  R. 
Optimo.  Princ.  On  the  reverse  is  the  head  of  the  Emperor 
with  the  inscription  Imp.  Trajano.  Aug.  Ger.  Dac.  P.  M. 
Tr.  P. 

According  to  the  representation  of  Lucian  (de  Gymnas.\ 
the  Scythians  were  in  the  constant  habit  of  wearing  caps  or 
hats :  for  in  the  conversation  between  Anacharsis  and  Solon 
described  by  that  author,  Anacharsis  requests  to  go  into  the 
shade,  saying  that  he  could  scarce  endure  the  sun,  and  that  he 
had  brought  his  cap  (ntUv)  from  home,  but  did  not  like  be- 
ing seen  alone  in  a  strange  habit.  In  later  times  we  read  of 
the  "  pileati  Gothi"  and  "  pileati  sacerdotes  Gothorum*." 

In  considering  the  use  of  the  skull-cap,  or  of  the  conical  cap 
of  felt,  it  remains  to  notice  the  use  of  it  among  the  Romans  as 
the  emblem  of  libertyt.  When  a  slave  obtained  his  freedom 
he  had  his  head  shaven,  and  wore  instead  of  his  hair  the  pi- 
leus,  or  cap  of  undyed  felt,  (Diod.  Sic.  Exc.  Leg.  22.  p.  625,  ed. 
Wess.).  Plutarch,  in  allusion  to  the  same  custom,  calls  the  cap 
jrtXtoi/,  which  is  the  diminutive  of  ^\oS.  It  is  evident,  that  the 
Latin  pileus  or  pileum  is  derived  from  the  Greek  m\os  and  its 
diminutive,  and  this  circumstance  in  conjunction  with  other  ev- 
idence tends  to  show,  that  the  Latins  adopted  this  use  of  felt 
from  the  Greeks.  Sosia  says  in  Plautus  (Amphit.  i.  1.  306),  as  a 
description  of  the  mode  of  receiving  his  liberty,  "  Ut  ego  hodie, 
raso  capite  calvus,  capiam  pileum."  Servius  (in  Virg.  JEn. 
viii.  564)  says,  the  act  of  manumitting  slaves  in  this  form  was 


*  Jornandes,  &c.,  ap.  Div.  Gentium  Hist.  Ant,  Hamb.  1611,  pp.  86,  93. 
t  Haec  mea  libertas  ;  hoc  nobis  pilea  donant. — Persius,  v.  82. 

54 


426 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


done  in  the  temple  of  Feronia,  who  was  the  goddess  cf  freed- 
mem  In  her  temple  at  Terracina  was  a  stone  seat,  on  which 
was  engraved  the  following  verse  : 

"  Benemeriti  servi  sedeant,  surgent  liberi." 

In  allusion  to  this  practice  it  appears  that  the  Romans,  though 
they  did  not  commonly  wear  hats,  put  them  on  at  the  Saturna- 
lia*. At  the  death  of  Nero,  the  common  people  to  express  their 
joy  went  about  the  city  in  felt  capst.  In  allusion  to  this  cus- 
tom the  figure  of  Liberty  on  the  coins  of  Antoninus  Pius  holds 
the  cap  in  her  right  hand.  Figures  1  and  2  in  Plate  IX.  are 
examples  selected  from  the  collection  in  the  British  Museum, 
and,  as  we  learn  from  the  legend,  were  struck  when  he  was 
made  consul  the  fourth  time,  i.  e.  A.  D.  145. 

In  contradistinction  to  the  various  forms  of  the  felt  cap  now 
described  and  represented,  all  of  which  were  more  or  less  ele- 
vated, and  many  of  which  were  pointed  upwards,  we  have  now 
to  consider  those,  which,  though  made  of  felt,  and  therefore 
classed  by  the  ancients  under  the  general  terms  pileus,  rrrXo?, 
&c.t,  corresponded  more  nearly  to  our  modern  hat.  The 
Greek  word  dim.  derived  from  extendo, 

dilato,  and  adopted  by  the  Latins  in  the  form  petasus,  dim. 
petasiinculus,  well  expressed  the  distinctive  form  of  these  hats. 
They  were  more  or  less  broad  and  expanded.  What  was 
taken  from  their  height  was  added  to  their  width.  Those  al- 
ready mentioned  had  no  brim ;  the  petasus  of  every  variety 
had  a  brim,  which  was  either  exactly  or  nearly  circular,  and 
which  varied  greatly  in  its  width.  In  some  cases  it  seems  to 
be  a  mere  circular  disc  without  any  crown  at  all.  Of  this  we 
have  an  example  in  a  beautiful  statue,  which  has,  no  doubt, 
been  meant  for  Endymion,  in  the  Townley  collection  of  the 
British  Museum.  See  Plate  IX.  Fig.  3.  His  right  hand  en- 
circles his  head,  and  his  scarf  is  spread  over  a  rock  as  described 


*  Pileata  Roma.    Martial,  xi.  7  ;  xiv.  1. 
t  Plebs  pileata.    Sueton.  Nero,  57. 

X  Plutarch  (Solon,  179)  says  that  Solon,  pretending  to  be  mad  and  acting  the 
part  of  a  herald  from  Salamis,  e^eTrfiSrjarsv  els  rr}v  dyopav  ad>vo  iriXiov  TrepiQtjJBVos, 
Here  ttiAcoi/  seems  to  mean  the  ttItcktos. 


FELT    BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


427 


by  Lucian*.  He  sleeps  upon  it,  holding  the  fibula  in  his  left 
hand.  His  feet  are  adorned  with  boots  (cothurni)  and  his  sim- 
ple petasus  is  tied  under  his  chin.  In  this  form  the  petasus  il- 
lustrates the  remark  of  Theophrastus,  who,  in  describing  the 
Egyptian  Bean,  says,  that  the  leaf  was  of  the  size  of  the  Thessa- 
lian  petasust.  For  the  purpose  of  comparing  these  two  objects, 
a  representation  of  the  leaves  of  the  plant  referred  to,  is  intro- 
duced into  the  same  Figure  (3) ;  taken  from  the  "  Botanical 
Magazine,"  Plates  903,  3916,  and  Sir  J.  E.  Smith's  "  Exotic 
Botany,"  Tab.  31,  32.  The  petasus  here  shown  on  the  head 
of  Endymion,  the  original  statue  being  as  large  as  life,  certain- 
ly resembles  very  closely  both  in  size  and  in  form  the  leaf  of 
the  Egyptian  Bean,  which  is  the  Cyamus  Nelumbo,  or  Nelum- 
bium  Speciosum  of  modern  botanists. 

The  flowers  of  umbelliferous  plants  are  aptly  called  by  Pha- 
niast  ireraccoSn,  %.  e.  like  a  petasus.  The  petasus,  as  worn  by  the 
two  shepherds,  who  discover  Romulus  and  Remus,  in  a  bas-relief 
of  the  Vatican§,  is  certainly  not  unlike  the  umbel  of  a  plant. 
See  Plate  IX.  Fig.  4. 


*  In  the  Dialogues  of  the  Gods  (xi.),  the  Moon  says  in  answer  to  Venus,  that 
Endymion  is  particularly  beautiful  "  when  he  sleeps,  having  thrown  his  scarf 
under  him  upon  the  rock,  holding  in  his  left  hand  the  darts  just  falling  from  it, 
whilst  his  right  hand  bent  upwards  lies  gracefully  round  his  face,  and,  dissolved 
in  sleep,  he  exhales  his  ambrosial  breath." 

The  recumbent  statue,  here  represented,  is  of  white  marble,  and  is  placed  in 
room  XI.  of  the  Townley  Gallery.  It  was  found  in  1774  at  Roma  Vecchia  (Dal- 
laway's  Anecdotes  of  the  Arts,  p.  303).  It  has  been  called  Mercury  or  Adonis. 
But  there  are  no  examples  or  authorities  in  support  of  either  of  these  suppositions. 
It  is  not  sufficient  to  say  that  every  beautiful  youth  may  have  been  meant  either 
for  Mercury,  who  was  never  represented  asleep,  or  for  Adonis.  We  know  that 
the  fable  of  Endymion  and  the  Moon  was  a  favorite  subject  with  the  ancient  art- 
ists. In  the  Antichita  aVErcolano,  torn.  iii.  tav.  3,  we  find  a  picture,  which  was 
discovered  at  Portica,  and  which  represents  this  subject.  It  is  still  more  frequent 
in  ancient  bas-reliefs.  See  Mus.  Pio-Clem.  torn.  iv.  v.  8,  pp.  38,  41 ;  Sandrart, 
Sculp.  Vet.  Adm.  p.  52  ;  Gronovii  Thesaur.  torn.  i.  folio  O  ;  Proceedings  of  the 
Philological  Society,  vol.  i.  pp.  8,  9. 

t  Herd™  QerraXiKy.    Hist.  Plant,  iv.  10.  p.  147,  ed.  Schneider. 

t  Apud  Athen.  ix.  12.  p.  371  D.  ed.  Casaub. 

§  Museo  Pio-Clementino,  torn.  v.  tav.  24.  This  bas-relief  formerly  belonged  to 
the  Mattei  collection.    See  Monumenta  Matthceinana,  torn.  iii.  tab.  37. 


428 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


Callimachus  ascribes  the  same  head-dress  to  shepherds  in  the 
following-  lines  : 

"Kirpsnc  toi  irpoe^ovaa  K&prjs  cvpsTa  /caXu7rrp^, 
HoipeviKdv  m\ripa. — Frag.  CXXV. 
The  wide  covering  projecting  from  your  head,  the  pastoral  hat,  became  you. 

This  "  pastoral  hat/'  if  we  may  judge  from  the  representa- 
tion of  the  two  shepherds  in  the  bas-relief  just  referred  to  (Fig. 
4.),  was  in  its  shape  very  like  the  "bonny  blue  bonnet"  of  the 
Scotch.  Figure  5  in  Plate  IX.  is  taken  from  a  painted  Greek 
vase,  and  represents  the  story  of  the  delivery  of  (Edipus  to  be 
exposed.  His  name  OIAIITOAAE  is  written  beside  him.  The 
shepherd  ET$OPBOD,  who  holds  the  naked  child  in  his  arms, 
wears  a  flat  and  very  broad  petasus  hanging  behind  his  neck. 
It  is  of  an  irregular  shape,  as  if  from  long  usage*.  The  shep- 
herd Zethus  wears  a  petasus  hanging  behind  his  back  in  a 
bas-relief  belonging  to  the  Borghese  collection,  published  by 
Winckelmann  (Mon.  Inediti,  ii.  85).    See  Plate  IX.  Fig.  6. 

The  Athenian  ephebi  wore  the  broad-brimmed  hat,  together 
with  the  scarf  or  chlamyst.  Meleager,  in  an  epigram  on  a  beau- 
tiful boy,  named  Antiochus,  says,  that  he  would  be  undistinguish- 
able  from  Cupid,  if  Cupid  wore  a  scarf  and  petasus  instead  of 
his  bow  and  arrows  and  his  wingst. 

When  a  young  Greek  conquered  in  the  games,  his  friends 
semetimes  bestowed  a  hat  (petasus)  upon  him  as  a  presents 

In  consequence  of  the  use  of  the  petasus  as  a  part  of  the 
ordinary  costume  of  the  Athenian  youth,  we  find  it  in  a  great 
variety  of  works  of  ancient  art  illustrative  of  the  religion  and 
mythology  of  Greece.    For  example  : — 

1.  In  the  inner  frieze  of  the  Parthenon,  the  remains  of  which 
are  now  in  the  British  Museum,  it  is  worn  by  many  of  the 
riders  on  horseback.     Figure  7,  in  Plate  IX.  shows  one  of 


*  See  Monumenti  Inediti  pubblicati  dalV  Instituto  di  Correspondenza  Archeo- 
logica,  vol.  ii.  tav.  14. 

t  Pollux,  Onom.  x.  164  ;  Philemon,  p.  367.  ed.  Meineke  ;  Brunck,  Anal.  vol.  ii. 
p.  41  ;  Jacobs  in  Athol.  Grac.  i.  1.  p.  24. 

t  Brunck,  Anal.  vol.  i.  p.  5. 

§  Eratosthen.  a  Bernhardy,  p.  249.  250. 


FELT  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


429 


these  horsemen  (from  the  slab  No.  54.)  with  his  petasus  tied 
under  his  chin. 

2.  It  is  worn  by  Theseus,  as  represented  on  a  vase  in  the 
Vatican  collection.  See  Winckelmamij  Mon.  Inediti,  vol.  ii. 
98,  and  Fig.  8,  Plate  IX. 

3.  Also  by  (Edipus,  as  represented  on  one  of  Sir  William 
Hamilton's  vases  (vol.  ii.  Plate  24.),  standing  before  the  sphinx. 

4.  The  coins  of  iEtolia  exhibit  Meleager  wearing  the  petasus. 
Five  of  these  have  been  selected  from  the  collection  in  the 
British  Museum,  which  are  engraved  according  to  the  size  of 
the  originals  in  Plate  IX.  Figures  9,  10,  and  11,  are  of  silver. 
In  each  of  them  the  petasus  has  the  form  of  a  circular  disc  with 
a  boss  at  the  top  like  that  on  a  Scotch  bonnet :  on  the  reverse 
is  the  Calydonian  boar,  with  a  spear  head  beneath  it,  and  the 
word  AIT&AQN.  Figure  12,  which  is  of  gold*,  and  Figure  13, 
which  is  of  silver,  have  the  head  of  Hercules  on  the  reverse. 
The  hero,  supposed  to  be  Meleager,  wears  a  petasus,  a  scarf,  and 
boots,  as  we  have  seen  to  be  the  case  with  Endymion  (Fig.  3), 
this  being  the  attire  of  hunters.  In  these  two  coins  he  also 
holds  a  spear  in  his  right  hand,  and  is  seated  upon  a  shield 
(see  Fig.  13.)  and  other  pieces  of  armor.  AIT&AS2N  is  written 
by  the  side.  The  gold  coin  (see  Fig.  12.)  represents  him  with 
a  Victory  in  his  left  hand,  and  with  a  small  figure  of  Diana 
Lucifera  in  front. 

The  broad-brimmed  hat,  or  petasus,  was  more  especially  worn 
by  the  Greeks  when  they  were  travellingt.  Its  appearance  is 
well  shown  in  Fig.  14;  taken  from  a  fictile  vase  belonging  to 
the  late  Mr.  Hopet.  It  represents  a  Greek  soldier  on  a  journey, 
wearing  his  large  blanket,  and  holding  two  spears  in  his  right 
hand.  This  figure  also  shows  one  of  the  methods  of  fastening 
on  the  hat,  viz.  by  passing  the  string  round  the  occiput. 

The  comedies  of  Plautus,  being  translated  from  the  Greek, 
contain  allusions  to  the  same  practice.  In  the  Pseudolus  (ii.  4. 
55,  and  iv.  7.  90,)  the  petasus  and  the  scarf  are  supposed  to  be 


*  This  is  engraved  by  Taylor  Combe,  Vet.  Populorum  Nunmi.  tab.  v.  No.  23 

t  Brunck,  Anal.  ii.  170,  No.  5. 

t  Hope,  Costume  of  the  Ancients,  vol.  i.  pi.  71. 


430 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


worn  by  a  person  to  indicate  that  he  was  coming  from  a  journey. 
In  the  prologue  to  the  Amphitryo,  Mercury  says. 

Ego  has  habebo  hie  usque  in  petaso  pinnulas, 
Turn  meo  patri  autem  torulus  inerit  aureus 
Sub  petaso  :  id  signum  Amphitruoni  non  erit. 

Mercury  and  his  father  Jupiter  are  here  supposed  to  be  attired 
like  Sosia  and  Amphitryo  his  master,  both  of  whom  had  been 
travelling  and  were  returning  home.  At  the  same  time  there 
is  an  allusion  to  the  winged  hat  of  Mercury,  of  which  more 
hereafter.  Again,  in  act  i.  scene  i.  1.  287,  the  petasus  is 
attributed  to  Sosia,  because  he  is  supposed  to  be  coming  from  a 
journey;  and  to  Mercury,  both  because  it  was  commonly 
attributed  to  him,  and  because  on  this  occasion  he  was  person- 
ating Sosia. 

The  Romans  were  less  addicted  to  the  use  of  the  petasus 
than  the  Greeks  :  they  often  wore  it  when  they  were  from 
home  ;  but  that  they  did  not  consider  it  at  all  necessary  to  wear 
hats  in  the  open  air  is  manifest  from  the  remark  of  Suetonius 
about  the  Emperor  Augustus,  that  he  could  not  even  bear  the 
winter's  sun,  and  hence  "  domi  quoque  non  nisi  petatasus  sub 
divo  spatiabatur."  (August.  82.)  Caligula  permitted  the 
senators  to  wear  them  at  the  theatres  as  a  protection  from  the 
sun  (Dio.  Cass.  lix.  7.  p.  909,  ed.  Reimari).  What  was  meant 
by  wearing  hats  u  according  to  the  Thessalian  fashion"  is  by  no 
means  clear.  Perhaps  the  Thessalians  may  have  worn  hats 
resembling  those  of  their  neighbors,  the  Macedonians,  and  of 
the  shape  of  these  we  may  form  some  conception  from  the  coins 
of  the  Macedonian  kings.  One  of  these  coins  from  the  collec- 
tion in  the  British  Museum  is  copied  in  Plate  IX.  Fig.  15. 
It  is  a  coin  of  the  reign  of  Alexander  I.  and  exhibits  a  Mace- 
donian warrior  standing  by  the  side  of  his  horse,  holding  two 
spears  in  his  left  hand,  and  wearing  a  hat  with  a  broad  brim 
turned  upwards.  This  Macedonian  petasus  is  called  the 
Causia  and  was  adopted  by  the  Romanst,  and  more 

*  Val.  Max.  v.  1.  Extern.  4.  Pausan.,  ap.  Eustath.  in  II.  ii.  121.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  that  the  causia  and  petasus  are  opposed  to  one  another  by  a  writer  in 
Athenaeus  (L.  xii.  537,  e),  as  if  the  causia  was  not  a  petasus  ! 

t  Plautus,  Mil.  iv.  4. 42.    Pers.  i.  3.  75.    Antip.  Thess.  in  Brunch  Anal.  ii.  111. 


FELT  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


431 


especially  by  the  Emperor  Caracalla,  who,  as  Herodian  states, 
aimed  to  imitate  Alexander  the  Great  in  his  costume.  It 
appears  probable,  nevertheless,  that  the  turning  up  of  the  brim 
was  not  peculiar  to  the  Macedonians,  and  it  may  have  depended 
altogether  on  accident  or  fancy ;  for  we  find  instances  of  it  on 
painted  fictile  vases,  where  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
any  reference  was  intended  either  to  Macedonia  or  Thessaly. 
Fig.  16.  Plate  IX.  for  example,  is  taken  from  the  head  of 
Bellerophon,  on  one  of  Sir  William  Hamilton's  vases* ;  and  the 
left-hand  figure  from  a  fictile  vase  at  Vienna,  engraved  by 
Ginzrott.  This  hat  is  remarkable  for  the  boss  at  the  top,  which 
we  observe  also  on  the  iEtolian  coins,  and  in  various  other 
examples. 

In  connection  with  the  above  quoted  expression  of  Dio  Cas- 
sius  it  may  be  observed  further,  that  besides  the  causia  two 
varieties  of  the  petasus  seem  to  be  alluded  to  by  several  ancient 
authors,  viz.  the  Thessalian,  and  the  Arcadian  or  Laconian. 
How  they  were  distinguished,  cannot  be  ascertained,  but  the 
passages  which  mention  them  will  now  be  produced,  that  the 
reader  may  judge  for  himself.  The  Thessalian  variety  is 
mentioned  by  Dio  Cassius,  by  Theophrastus,  as  above  quoted 
(p.  427),  and  by  Callimachus  in  the  following  fragment,  which 
is  preserved  in  the  Scholia  on  Sophocles,  (Ed.  Col.  316. 

And  about  his  head  lay  a  felt,  newly  come  from  Thessaly,  as 
a  protection  from  wet.— Frag.  124.  ed.  Ernesti. 

The  frenzied  Cynic  philosopher  Menedemus,  among  other  pe- 
culiarities, wore  an  Arcadian  hat,  HAVING  THE  TWELVE 
SIGNS  OF  THE  ZODIAC  WOVEN  INTO  ITl  !  Am- 
mianus  (Brunck,  Anal.  ii.  384.)  represents  an  orator  dedicating 
"  an  Arcadian  hat"  to  Mercury,  who  was  the  patron  of  his  art, 
and  also  a  native  of  Arcadia. 

Herodes  Atticus  wore  "  the  Arcadian  hat"  at  Athens,  as  a 
protection  from  the  sun ;  and  the  language  of  Philostratus,  in 
recording  the  fact,  shows  that  the  Athenians  of  his  time  corn- 

*  Vol.  i.  pi.  1. 

t  Uber  die  Wagen  und  Fuhnverke  der  Allen,  vol.  i.  p.  342. 
t  Diog.  Laert.  vi.  102.    See  Gilroy's  Treatise  on  the  Art  of  Weaving,  Amer- 
ican edition,  p.  446. 


i 


432 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


monly  wore  it,  more  especially  in  travelling*.  Arrian,  who 
wrote  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  says,  that  "  La- 
conian  or  Arcadian  hats,"  were  worn  in  the  army  by  the  pel- 
tastae  instead  of  helmetsf.  This  circumstance  shows  a  remark- 
able change  of  customs ;  for  in  the  early  Greek  history  we  find 
the  Persian  soldiers  held  up  as  the  objects  of  ridicule  and  con- 
tempt, because  they  wore  hats  and  trowserst  On  the  whole,  it 
is  very  evident  that  "  the  Arcadian  or  Laconian  hat "  was  one 
and  the  same  variety,  and  that  this  variety  of  head-dress  was 
simply  the  petasus,  or  hat  with  a  brim,  so  called  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  proper  ttiAos,  which  was  the  skull-cap,  or  hat  without 
a  brim. 

This  supposition  suits  the  representations  of  the  only  ima- 
ginary beings  who  are  exhibited  in  works  of  ancient  art  wear- 
ing the  petasus,  viz.  the  Dioscuri  and  Mercury. 

It  has  been  already  observed  that  the  Dioscuri  are  commonly 
represented  with  the  skull-cap,  because  they  were  worshipped, 
as  the  reader  will  have  perceived,  as  the  guardians  of  the  mar- 
inert  ;  but  on  ancient  vases  we  find  them  sometimes  painted 
with  the  petasus ;  and  if  this  was  the  same  with  the  rft©*  AaKcovi- 
tcdg,  it  would  coincide  with  their  origin  as  natives  of  Sparta.  In 
Plate  IX.  Fig.  16,  an  example  is  shown,  on  one  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Hamilton's  vases,  in  which  their  attire  resembles  that  of 
the  Athenian  ephebi.  They  wear  boots  and  a  tunic,  over 
which  one  of  them  also  wears  the  scarf  or  chlamys.  They 
are  conducted  by  the  goddess  Night. 

In  like  manner  Mercury,  as  a  native  of  Arcadia,  might  be 
expected  to  wear  "  the  Arcadian  hat."  In  the  representations 
of  this  deity  on  works  of  ancient  art,  the  hat,  which  is  often 
decorated  with  wings  to  indicate  his  office  of  messenger,  as  his 
talaria  also  did II,  has  a  great  variety  of  forms,  and  sometimes 
the  brim  is  so  narrow,  that  it  does  not  differ  from  the  cap  of  the 
artificer  already  described,  or  the  nTXos  in  its  ordinary  form. 

*  Vit.  Sophist,  ii.  5.  3.  t  Tactica,  p.  12.  ed.  Blancardi. 

t  Herod,  v.  49.  §  See  p.  419. 

H  Servius  (on  Virg.  JEn.  viii.  138)  says,  that  Mercury  was  supposed  to  have 
wings  on  his  petasus  and  on  his  feet,  in  order  to  denote  the  swiftness  of  speech, 
he  being  the  god  of  eloquence. 


FELT  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


433 


These  hats,  with  a  brim  of  but  small  dimensions,  agree  most 
exactly  in  appearance  with  the  cheapest  hats  of  undyed  felt, 
now  made  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain*.  On  the 
heads  of  the  rustics  and  artificers  in  our  streets  and  lanes 
we  often  see  forms  the  exact  counterpart  of  those  which  we 
most  admire  in  the  works  of  ancient  art.  The  petasus  is  also 
still  commonly  worn  by  agricultural  laborers  in  Greece  and  Asia 
Minor. 

A  bas-relief  in  the  Vatican  collectiont,  represents  the  birth  of 
Hercules,  and  contains  two  figures  of  Mercury.  In  one  he  car- 
ries the  infant  Hercules,  in  the  other  the  caduceus.  In  both  he 
wears  a  large  scarf,  and  a  skull-cap,  like  that  of  Daedalus!, 
without  a  brim.  This  example  therefore  proves  that,  although 
the  petasus,  as  distinguished  from  the  pileus,  was  certainly  the 
appropriate  attribute  of  Mercury§,  yet  the  artists  of  antiquity 
sometimes  took  the  liberty  of  placing  on  his  head  the  skull-cap 
instead  of  the  hat,  just  as  we  have  seen  that  they  sometimes 
made  the  reverse  substitution  in  the  case  of  the  Dioscuri. 

Another  bas-relief  in  the  Vatican  ||,  represents  the  story  of 
the  birth  of  Bacchus  from  Jupiter1  s  thigh.  Thus  the  subject 
of  it  is  very  similar  to  that,  which  relates  to  the  birth  of  Her- 
cules, the  infant  being  in  each  instance  consigned  to  the  care 
of  Mercury.  But  the  covering  of  Mercury's  head  in  these  two 
cases  is  remarkably  different,  though  from  no  other  reason  than 


*  These  hats  are  sold  in  the  shops  for  sixpence,  ninepence,  or  a  shilling  each, 
t  Museo  Pio-Clementino,  torn.  iv.  tav.  37. 
t  See  Plate  VIII.  Fig.  8. 

§  See  Brunck,  Anal.  ii.  41,  and  Arnobius,  Adv.  Gentes,  lib.  vi.  See  also  Ep- 
hippus,  ap.  Athen.  xii.  53.  p.  537  F.  Casaub. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  person  who  acted  the  part  of  a  Silenus  in  the  Dionys- 
iac  procession  instituted  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  at  Alexandria,  wore  a  hat  and 
a  golden  caduceus  (Athen.  v.  27.  p.  198  A.).  In  this  case  the  imagination  ap- 
pears to  have  been  indulged  in  decorating  a  mere  festive  character  with  the  pecu- 
liar attributes  of  Mercury.  It  is  added,  that  various  kinds  of  chariots  were  driven 
by  "  boys  wearing  the  tunics  of  charioteers  and  petasi"  (Athen.  v.  p.  200  F.).  This 
would  be  in  character,  being  agreeable  to  the  custom  of  the  Grecian  youth. 

The  following  is  from  a  sepulchral  urn  found  near  Padua  (Gruter.  p.  297) : 

Abite  hinc,  pessimi  fures,  *  *  *  vestro  cum  Mercurio  petasato  caduceatoque. 

|]  Museo  Pio-Clementino,  torn.  iv.  tav.  19. 

55 


434 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


the  fancy  of  the  artist.  In  the  bas-relief  now  under  consider- 
ation, Mercury  holds  the  skin  of  a  lynx  or  panther  to  receive 
the  child.  He  wears  the  scarf  or  chlamys  and  cothurni.  This 
was  a  very  favorite  subject  with  the  ancients.  It  occurs  on  a 
superb  marble  vase  with  the  inscription  EAAIII12N  EnoiHUE* 
and  on  one  of  Sir  W.  Hamilton's  fictile  vasest. 

Figure  4.  in  Plate  X.  is  from  Hope's  Costume  of  the  An- 
cients,  vol.  ii.  pi.  175.  The  money-bag  is  in  Mercury's  right 
hand. 

In  a  painting  found  at  Pompeiil,  Mercury  is  represented 
with  wings  (pinnulce)  on  his  petasus,  though  not  very  ancient, 
is  also  recognized  in  the  Amphitryo  of  Plautus. 

Figure  5.  in  Plate  X.  is  from  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne's 
marble  bust,  published  by  the  Dilettanti  Society§.  In  this 
beautiful  bust  the  brim  of  the  hat  is  unfortunately  damaged. 

Figures  6  and  7,  Plate  X.,  are  from  coins  engraved  in  Ca- 
relli's  Nummi  Veteris  Italics  (plates  58  and  65).  Figure  7  is 
a  coin  of  Suessa  in  Campania. 

To  these  illustrations  might  have  been  added  others  from  an- 
cient gems,  good  examples  of  which  may  be  found  in  the  sec- 
ond volume  of  Mariette's  Traite  des  Pierres  Gravees,  folio, 
Paris,  1750. 

Besides  the  application  of  felt  as  a  covering  of  the  head  for 
the  male  sex  in  the  manner  now  explained,  it  was  also  used  as 
a  lining  for  helmets.  When  in  the  description  of  the  helmet 
worn  by  Ulysses  we  read 

we  may  suppose  m\oS  to  be  used  in  its  most  ordinary  sense,  and 


*  Spon.,  Misc.  Erud.  Ant.  §  xi.  art.  1.  t  Vol.  i.  No.  8. 

t  GelPs  Pompeiana,  London  1819,  ph  76. 

§  Specimens  of  Ancient  Sculpture,  London  1809,  pi.  51. 

||  Homer,  II.  x.  265.  Eustathius,  in  his  commentary  on  this  passage,  says,  that 
the  most  ancient  Greeks  always  wore  felt  in  their  helmets,  but  that  those  of  more 
recent  times,  regarding  this  use  of  felt  as  peculiar  to  Ulysses,  persuaded  the  paint- 
ers to  exhibit  him  in  a  skull-cap,  and  that  this  was  first  done,  according  to  the 
tradition,  by  the  painter  Apollidorus.  The  account  of  Pliny,  who,  together  with 
Servius  (in  Mn.  ii.  44),  represents  Nicomachus,  and  not  Apollidorus,  as  having 
first  adopted  this  idea. 


FELT  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


435 


consequently  that  the  interior  of  the  helmet  was  a  common 
skull-cap. 

Being  generally  thicker  than  common  cloth,  felt  presented  a 
more  effectual  obstacle  to  missile  weapons.  Hence,  when  the 
soldiers  under  Julius  Ceesar  were  much  annoyed  by  Pompey's 
archers,  they  made  shirts  or  other  coverings  of  felt,  and  put 
them  on  for  their  defence*.  Thucydides  refers  to  the  use  of 
similar  means  to  protect  the  body  from  arrowst;  and  even 
in  besieging  and  defending  cities  felt  was  used,  together  with 
hides  and  sackcloth,  to  cover  the  wooden  towers  and  military 
enginest 

Felt  was  also  sometimes  used  to  cover  the  bodies  of  quadru- 
peds. According  to  Aristotle§,  the  Greeks  clothed  their  molles 
oves  either  with  skins  or  with  pieces  of  felt ;  and  the  wool  be- 
came gray  in  consequence.  The  Persians  used  the  same  ma- 
terial for  the  trappings  of  their  horses  (Plutarch,  Art  ax.  II.  p. 
1858.  ed.  Stephani). 

The  loose  rude  coverings  for  the  feet  called  TJdones  were 
sometimes  made  of  felt,  being  worn  within  the  shoes  or  brogues 
of  the  rustic  laborers  II. 

In  concluding  this  investigation  it  may  be  proper  to  observe, 
that,  although  *r\oS  originally  meant  felt,  and  more  especially 
a  skull-cap  made  of  that  manufacture,  it  was  sometimes  used, 
at  least  by  the  later  Greek  authors,  by  an  extension  of  its 
meaning,  to  denote  a  cap  of  any  other  material.  Thus  Athen- 
aeus  (lib.  vi.  p.  274.  Casaub.)  speaking  of  the  Romans,  says, 
that  they  wore  about  their  heads  *&°vs  irpoParetov  SepfidTM  Saaeis,  i.  e. 
11  thick  caps  made  of  sheep  skins." 


*  Jul.  Caesar,  Bell.  Civ.  iii.  44.  t  Thucyd.  iv.  34.    Schol.  ad  loc. 

t  iEneas  Tacticus,  33. 

§  De  Gen.  Animalium,  v.  5.  p.  157.  ed.  Bekker. 

||  Hesiod,  Op.  ed  Dies,  542 ;  Greevius,  ad  loc. ;  Cratini,  Fragmenta,  p.  29.  ed. 
Runkel. 


436  MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


APPENDIX  D. 

ON  NETTING. 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF  NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,  ETC. 

Nets  were  made  of  Flax,  Hemp,  and  Broom — General  terms  for  nets — Nets  used 
for  catching  birds — Mode  of  snaring — Hunting-nets — Method  of  hunting — 
Hunting-nets  supported  by  forked  stakes — Manner  of  fixing  them — Purse-net 
or  tunnel-net — Homer's  testimony — Nets  used  by  the  Persians  in  lion-hunting 
— Hunting  with  nets  practised  by  the  ancient  Egyptians — Method  of  hunting 
— Depth  of  nets  for  this  purpose — Description  of  the  purse-net — Road-net — 
Hallier — Dyed  feathers  used  to  scare  the  prey — Casting-net — Manner  of  throw- 
ing by  the  Arabs— Cyrus  king  of  Persia — His  fable  of  the  piper  and  the  fishes 
— Fishing-nets — Casting-net  used  by  the  Apostles — Landing-net  (S  cap-net) — 
The  Sean — Its  length  and  depth — Modern  use  of  the  Sean — Method  of  fishing 
with  the  Sean  practised  by  the  Arabians  and  ancient  Egyptians — Corks  and 
leads — Figurative  application  of  the  Sean — Curious  method  of  capturing  an 
enemy  practised  by  the  Persians — Nets  used  in  India  to  catch  tortoises — Bag- 
nets  and  small  purse-nets — Novel  scent-bag  of  Verres  the  Sicilian  praetor. 

The  raw  materials,  of  which  the  ancients  made  nets,  were 
flax,  hemp*,  and  broomt.  Flax  was  most  commonly  used  ;  so 
that  Jerome,  when  he  is  prescribing  employment  for  monks, 
says,  "  Texantur  et  Una  capiendis  piscibust"  The  operation 
of  netting,  as  well  as  that  of  platting,  was  expressed  by  the 
verb  *\eK£iv§.  The  meshes  were  called  in  Latin  raacul(L%  in 
Greek  /Vxotj  dim.  /tyo^'faTT. 


*  Rete  cannabina.    Varro,  De  Re  Rust.  iii.  5.  p.  216,  ed.  Bipont. 
t  Pliny,  H.  N.  xix.  1.  s.  2  ;  xxiv.  9.  s.  40. 

t  Hieron.  Epist.  1.  ii.  p.  173,  ed.  Par.  1613,  12mo.  Hunting-nets  are  called 
"  Una  nodosa"  by  Ovid,  Met.  iii.  153,  and  vii.  807.  Compare  Virg.  Georg.  i.  142  ; 
Homer,  II.  v.  487  ;  Brunck,  Anal.  ii.  94,  494,  495 ;  Artimedorus,  ii.  14.  See 
also  Pliny,  H.  N.  xix.  1.  s.  2. 

§  Tl\e£dnEvos  afvs,  Aristoph.  Lysist.  790.  Twv  TTZTrXcynzvuv  SUtvwv,  Bekkeri 
Anecdota,  vol.  i.  p.  354. 

||  Varro,  De  Re  Rust.  iii.  11  ;  Ovid,  Epist.  v.  19  ;  Nemesiani  Cyneg.  302. 

IT  Heliodor.  1.  v.  p.  231,  ed.  Commelini. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS.  437 

The  use  of  all  the  Latin  and  Greek  terms  for  nets  will  now 
be  explained,  and  in  connection  with  this  explanation  of  terms, 
will  be  produced  all  the  facts  which  can  be  ascertained  upon 
the  subject. 

I. 

Retis  and  Rete  ;  dim.  Reticulum. 
4IKTYON*. 

Retis  or  Rete  in  Latin,  and  Greek,  were  used  to  de- 

note nets  in  general.  Thus  in  an  epigram  of  Leonidas  Tarenti- 
nusf ,  three  brothers,  one  of  whom  was  a  hunter,  another  a  fowler, 
and  the  third  a  fisherman,  dedicate  their  nets  to  Pan.  Several 
imitations  of  this  epigram  remain  by  Alexander  iEtolust, 
Antipater  Sidonius§,  Archiasll,  and  others!".  In  one  of  these 
epigrams  ('hvXidvov  Aiyvirriov)  we  find  \iva  adopted  as  a  general 
term  for  nets  instead  of  doubt  for  the  reason  above 

stated.  In  another  epigram**  a  hare  is  said  to  have  been  caught 
in  a  net  {zuwov).  Aristophanes  mentions  nets  by  the  same 
denomination  among  the  contrivances  employed  by  the  fowlerf  f . 
Fishing-nets  are  called  6i  the  following  passages  of  the 

New  Testament :  Matt.  iv.  20,  21  ;  Mark  i.  18,  19  ;  Luke  v. 
2,  4-6  ;  John  xxi.  6,  8,  11 :  also  by  Theocritus,  ap.  Athen. 
vii.  20.  p.  284,  Cas. ;  and  by  Plato,  Sophist  a,  220,  b.  p.  134, 
ed.  Bekker. 

Netting  was  applied  in  various  ways  in  the  construction  of 
hen-coops  and  aviaries ;  and  such  net- work  is  called  retell.  It 
was  used  to  make  pens  for  sheep  by  night.  At  the  amphi- 
theatres it  was  sometimes  placed  over  the  podium.  At  a  gladi- 
atorial show  given  by  Nero,  the  net,  thus  used  as  a  fence  against 


*  From  ZiKuv,  to  throw.  See  Eurip.  Bacc.  600,  and  the  Lexicons  of  Schnei- 
der and  Passow. 

t  Brunck,  Anal  i.  225. 

X  Brunck,  Anal.  i.  418.  Alexandri  iEtoli  Fragmenta,  a  Capelmann,  p.  50. 
§  Ibid.  ii.  9,  Nos.  15,  16.  H  Ibid.  ii.  94,  No.  9. 

1T  Ibid.  ii.  494,  495.    Jacobs,  Anthol.  vol.  i.  p.  188,  189. 
**  Brunck,  Anal  iii.  239,  No  417.  tt  Aves,  526-528. 

tt  Varro,  De  Re  Rust.  iii.  5. 


438 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


the  wild  beasts,  was  knotted  with  amber*.  The  way  in 
which  the  net  was  used  by  the  Retiarii  is  well  known.  The 
head-dress  called  K£Kpv<pa\oS,  was  a  small  net  of  fine  flax,  silk,  or 
gold  thread,  and  was  also  called  reticulum^.  But  by  far  the 
most  important  application  of  net-work  was  to  the  kindred  arts 
of  hunting  and  fishing :  and  besides  the  general  terms  used 
alike  in  reference  to  both  these  employments,  there  are  special 
terms  to  be  explained  under  each  head. 

The  use  of  nets  for  catching  birds  was  very  limited,  on 
which  account  we  find  no  appropriate  name  for  fowlers'  netst. 
Nevertheless  thrushes  were  caught  in  them§,  and  doves  or 
pigeons,  with  their  limbs  tied  up,  or  fastened  to  the  ground,  or 
with  their  eyes  covered  or  put  out,  were  confined  in  a  net  in 
order  that  their  cries  might  allure  others  into  the  snarell.  An 
account  of  the  nets  used  by  the  Egyptians  to  catch  birds  is 
given  by  Sir  Gardner  WilkinsonH,  being  derived  from  the 
paintings  found  in  the  catacombs.  The  net  commonly  em- 
ployed for  the  purpose  was  the  clap-net.  Bird-traps  were  also 
made  by  stretching  a  net  over  two  semicircular  frames,  which, 
being  joined  and  laid  open,  approached  to  the  form  of  a  circle. 
The  trap  was  baited,  and  when  a  bird  flew  to  it  and  seized  the 
bait,  it  was  instantly  caught  by  the  sudden  rising  of  the  two 
sides  or  flaps. 

JL 

Cassis  ;  Plaga. 

ENOAIONj  APKYE. 

In  hunting  it  was  usual  to  extend  nets  in  a  curved  line  of 
considerable  length**,  so  as  in  part  to  surround  a  space,  into 

*  Plin.  H.  N.  xxxvii.  3.  s.  11. 

t  Nonius  Marcellus,  p.  542,  ed.  Merceri.  See  also  the  article  Calantica,  in 
Smith's  Diet,  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities. 

X  See  Aristophanes,  I.  c.  §  Hor.  Epod.  ii.  33,  34. 

II  Aristoph.  Aves,  1083.  IT  Man.  and  Customs,  vol.  iii.  p.  35-38,  45. 

**  Td  6'iKTva  mpi/3/t\\ovci.  iElian,  H.  A.  xii.  46.  Uno  portante  multitudinem, 
qua  saltus  cingerentur.  Plin.  H.  N.  xix.  L  s.  2.  Oppian  (Cyneg.  iv.  120-123) 
says,  that  in  an  Asiatic  lion-hunt  the  nets  (eipxvm)  were  placed  in  the  form  of  the 
new  moon. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


439 


which  the  beasts  of  chase,  such  as  the  boar,  the  wild  goat,  the 
deer,  the  hare,  the  lion,  and  the  bear  might  be  driven  through 
the  opening  left  on  one  side.  Tibullus  (iv.  3.  12)  speaks  of 
inclosing  woody  hills  for  this  purpose  : — 

 densos  indagine  colles 

Claudentem. 

The  following  lines  of  Virgil  show,  that  the  animals  were 
driven  into  the  toils  from  a  distance  by  the  barking  of  dogs  and 
the  shouts  of  men  : 

Thy  hound  the  wild-ass  in  the  sylvan  chase, 
Or  hare,  or  hart,  with  faithful  speed  will  trace ; 
Assail  the  muddy  cave  with  eager  cries, 
Where  the  rough  boar  in  secret  ambush  lies ; 
Press  the  tall  stag  with  clamors  echoing  shrill 
To  secret  toils,  along  the  aerial  hill. 

Georg.  iii.  411-413. — Warton's  Translation. 

In  another  splendid  passage  the  boar  is  described  as  coming  into 
the  midst  of  the  nets  after  he  has  been  driven  to  them  from  a 
mountain  or  a  marsh  at  a  great  distance  : 

And  as  a  savage  boar  on  mountains  bred, 
With  forest  mast  and  fattening  marshes  fed ; 
When  once  he  sees  himself  in  toils  inclosed, 
By  huntsmen  and  their  eager  hounds  opposed ; 
He  whets  his  tusks,  and  turns  and  dares  the  war : 
The  invaders  dart  their  javelins  from  afar : 
All  keep  aloof  and  safely  shout  around, 
But  none  presumes  to  give  a  nearer  wound. 
He  frets  and  froths,  erects  his  bristled  hide, 
And  shakes  a  grove  of  lances  from  his  side. 

Mn.  x.  707-715.— Dry  den's  Translation. 

Even  in  a  case  where  the  same  poet  introduces  an  equivalent 
expression  to  that  of  Tibullus,  already  quoted,  viz.  "saltus 
indagine  cingunt"  (JEn.  iv.  121),  he  represents  the  hunting- 
party  as  going  over  a  large  extent  of  country  to  collect  the 
animals  out  of  it : 

Postquam  altos  ventum  in  montes  atque  invia  lustra, 
Ecce  ferae  saxi  dejectse  vertice  caprae 
Decurrere  jugis  ;  alia  de  parte  patentes 
Transmittunt  cursu  campos,  atque  agmina  cervi 
Pulverulenta  fuga  glomerant,  montesque  relinquunt. 


440 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OP 


At  puer  Ascanius  mediis  in  vallibus  acri 
Gaudet  equo,  jamque  hos  cursu,  jam  praeterit  illos, 
Spumantemque  dari  pecora  inter  inertia  votis 
Optat  aprum,  aut  fulvum  descendere  monte  leonem. 

Mn.  iv.  151-159. 

So  Ovid  (Epist.  iv.  41,  42) : 

In  nemus  ire  libet,  pressisque  in  retia  cervis, 
Hortari  celeres  per  juga  summa  canes ; 

and  (Epist.  v.  19,  20) : 

Retia  saepe  comes  maculis  distincta  tetendi, 
Soepe  citos  egi  per  juga  longa  canes. 

The  younger  Pliny  describes  himself  on  one  occasion  sitting 
beside  the  nets,  while  the  hunters  were  pursuing  the  boars  and 
driving  them  into  the  snare  (Epist.  i.  6).  In  Euripides  (Bacc. 
821-832)  we  find  the  following  beautiful  description  of  a  fawn, 
which  has  been  driven  into  the  space  inclosed  by  the  nets,  but 
has  leaped  over  them  and  escaped : — 

vefipos  ^XoepaTs 
t^nrai^ovaa  "XsifxaKog  fj- 
SovaT$,  f]viK  av  (poffepov  (pvyr) 
Orjpaix  s£o>  ({>v\aKas 
tiiiKcKTWv  vtrip  dpKveov,  &<C. 

Here  a  Bacchanal,  tossing  her  head  into  the  air  with  gambols 
and  dancing,  is  said  to  be  "  like  a  fawn  sporting  in  the  green 
delights  of  a  meadow,  when  she  has  escaped  the  fearful  chase 
by  leaping  over  the  well-platted  nets  so  as  to  be  out  of  the 
inclosure,  whilst  the  shouting  hunter  has  been  urging  his  dogs 
to  run  still  more  swiftly  :  by  great  efforts  and  with  the  rapidity 
of  the  winds  she  bounds  over  a  plain  beside  a  river,  pleased 
with  solitudes  remote  from  man,  and  hides  herself  in  the  thickets 
of  an  umbrageous  forest." 

If  hollows  or  valleys  were  inclosed*,  the  nets  were  no  doubt 


*  Nec,  velit  insidiis  altassi  claudere  valles, 
Dum  placeas,  humeri  retia  ferre  negent. — Tibullus,  i.  4.  49,  50. 
It  was  the  duty  of  the  attendants  (J.  Pollux,  v.  4.  27-31)  in  most  cases  to  carry 
the  nets  on  their  shoulders,  agreeably  to  the  representation  in  the  Plate  X. 
Pliny,  I.  c. 

Cassibus  impositos  venor. — Propert.  iv.  2.  32. 

 alius  raras 

Cervice  gravi  portare  plagas. — Sen.  Hippol.  i.  1.  44. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


441 


extended  only  in  those  openings,  through  which  it  was  possible 
for  the  animals  to  escape.  Also  a  river  was  of  itself  a  sufficient 
boundary : 

Inclusum  flumine  cervum. — Virg.  JEn.  xii.  749. 

The  proper  Latin  term  for  the  hunting-net,  but  more  espe- 
cially for  the  purse-net,  which  will  be  hereafter  described,  was 
Cassis.  "  Cassis,  genus  venatorii  retis."  Isidori  Hispalensis 
Orig.  xix.  5.  "  Arctos  rodere  casses"  is  applied  by  Persius  (v. 
170)  to  a  quadruped  with  incisor  teeth  caught  in  such  a  net 
and  striving  to  escape.  See  also  Propertius  as  just  quoted,  and 
the  Agamemnon  of  Seneca  and  Virgil's  Georgics  as  quoted 
below.  Cassis  seems  to  be  derived  from  the  root  of  cap  ere 
and  catch.  But  Plaga  was  also  applied  to  hunting-nets,  so 
that  Horace  describes  the  hunting  of  the  boar  in  the  following 
terms  : 

Aut  trudit  acres  hinc  et  hinc  multa  cane 
Apros  in  obstantes  plagas. — Epod.  ii.  31,  32. 

Lucretius  (lib.  v.  1251,  1252)  aptly  compares  the  setting  up  of 
the  plagce  to  the  planting  of  a  hedge  around  the  forest : 

Nam  fovea  atqne  igni  prius  est  venarier  ortum, 
Quam  soepire  plagis  saltum,  canibusque  ciere. 

In  the  same  manner  plagce,  is  used  in  the  Hippolytus  of  Sen- 
eca,  as  above  quoted,  and  in  Pliny*. 

To  dispose  the  nets  in  the  manner  which  has  been  described, 
was  called  "  retia  ponere"  (Virg.  Georg.  i.  307)  or  "  retia  ten- 
dere"  (Ovid,  Art.  Amat.  i.  45). 

In  Homer  a  hunting-net  is  called  \ivov  ndvaypoi/j  literally,  "  the 
flax  that  catches  everythingt."  But  the  proper  Greek  term  for 
the  hunting-net,  corresponding  to  the  Latin  cassis,  was  apxvs, 
which  is  accordingly  employed  in  the  passages  of  Oppian  and 
Euripides  cited  above.  Also  the  epigram  of  Antipater  Sidoni- 
us,  to  which  a  reference  has  already  been  made,  specifies  the 
hunting-net  by  the  same  appellation  : 

Aajxts  fJ-lv  Orjpcov  otpKVV  dpeiov6jxoiv. 

The  word  is  used  in  the  same  sense  by  Cratinust ;  also  by  Ar- 


*  H.  N.  xix.  1.  s.  2. 

t  Cratini  Fragmentcij  a  Runkel,  p.  28. 

56 


t  11.  v.  487. 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 

-  -  -  rian,  where  he  remarks  that  the  Celts  dispensed  with  the  use  of 
nets  in  hunting,  because  they  trusted  to  the  swiftness  of  their 
greyhounds*.  In  Euripidest  it  is  used  metaphorically :  the  chil- 
dren cry  out,  when  their  mother  is  pursuing  them, 

'£lg  lyyvs  v^n  y  s^fxev  dpKouv  $t<povg9 
i.  e.    "  Now  how  near  we  are  being  caught  with  the  sword." 

Also  in  the  Agamemnon  of  iEschylus  (1.  1085) : 

'H  6'iktvov  ri  y  A.X6ov] 

aAA'  apicvg  fj  ^vvevvos,  h  $vvair(a 

(j)6vov. 

In  this  passage  reference  is  made  to  the  large  shawl  in  which 
Clytemnestra  wrapt  the  body  of  Agamemnon,  as  in  a  net,  in 
order  to  destroy  him.  On  account  of  the  use  made  of  it,  the 
same  fatal  garment  is  afterwards  (1.  1353)  compared  to  a  cast- 
ing-net, which  in  its  form  bore  a  considerable  resemblance  to 
the  cassis.  In  1.  1346,  dpuvcraraX  denotes  this  net  as  set  up 
for  hunting.  The  same  form  occurs  again  in  the  Eumenides 
(1.  112) ;  and  in  the  Persce  (102-104)  escape  from  danger  is  in 
nearly  the  same  terms  expressed  by  the  notion  of  overleaping 
the  net.  In  Euripides§  this  contrivance  is  called 
and  in  the  Agamemnon  of  Senecall  the  same  allusion  is  intro- 
duced : 

At  ille,  ut  altis  hispidus  silvis  aper ; 
Cum,  casse  vinctus,  tentat  egressus  tamen, 
Arctatque  motu  vincla,  et  incassum  furit, 
Cupit,  fluentes  undique  et  csecos  sinus 
Disjicere,  et  hostem  quaerit  implicitus  suum. 

Part  of  the  apparatus  of  a  huntsman  consisted  in  the  stakes 
which  he  drove  into  the  ground  to  support  his  nets,  and  which 
Antipater  Sidonius  thus  describes : 

Kou  nvpi  OrjyaXsovg  d^vtrayzTg  ord\iKag  ; 
i.  e.    "  The  sharp  stakes  hardened  in  the  fire  IT." 

*  Kat  cic\v  al  Kvvcg  avrai,  0  ri  irep  al  apuvg  EtvotycovTi  ixeivcp,  i.  e.  "  And  here  grey- 
hounds answered  the  same  purpose  as  Xenophon's  hunting-nets."  De  Venat. 
ii.  21.    See  Dansey's  translation,  pp.  72,  121. 

t  Medea,  1268.  t  Or,  dpKvcTarov,  ed.  Schutz.  1.  1376. 

§  Orestes,  1405,  s.  1421.  j|  L.  886-890. 

IT  Brunck,  Anal.  ii.  10.  "We  find  ordXi^j  in  Oppian,  Cyneg.  iv.  67,  71,  121, 
380  ;  Pollux,  Onom.  v.  31. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


The  term  which  Xenophon  uses  of  the  stakes  is,  according 
to  some  manuscripts  of  his  work,  cXa\iSss.  He  says,  they 
should  be  fixed  so  as  to  lean  backwards,  and  thus  more  effec- 
tually to  resist  the  impulse  of  the  animals  rushing  against 
them*.  The  Latin  term  answering  to  ardXiKcs  was  Vari.  We 
find  it  thus  used  by  Lucan  : 

Aut,  cum  dispositis  adtollat  retia  varis 
Venator,  tenet  ora  levis  clamosa  Molossi. 

Pharsalia,  iv.  439,  440. 
i.  e.    "  The  hunter  holds  the  noisy  mouth  of  the  light  Molossian  dog,  when  he 
lifts  up  the  nets  to  the  stakes  arranged  in  order." 

Gratius  Faliscus,  adopting  a  Greek  term,  calls  them  ancones, 
on  account  of  the  "  elbow"  or  fork  at  the  top  : 

Hie  magis  in  cervos  valuit  metus :  ast  ubi  lentae 

Interdum  Libyco  fucantur  sandy ce  pinna?, 

Lineaque  extructis  lucent  anconibus  arma, 

Rarum,  si  qua  metus  eludat  bellua  falsos. — Cyneg.  85-88. 

It  was  the  business  of  one  of  the  attendants  to  watch  the  nets : 

Ego  retia  servo. — Virg.  Buc.  iii.  75. 

Sometimes  there  was  a  watchman  at  each  extremity  and 
one  in  the  middle,  as  in  the  Persian  lion-huntf.  The  preva- 
lence of  this  method  of  hunting  in  Persia  might  be  inferred 
from  the  circumstance,  that  one  of  the  chief  employments  of 
the  inhabitants  consisted  in  making  these  nets  (fy™?,  Strabo, 
xv.  3.  §  18).  To  watch  the  nets  was  called  dpKvupuv  (jElian,  H. 
A.  i.  2),  and  the  man  who  discharged  this  office  (Xen., 
De  Yen.  ii.  3 ;  vi.  1.). 

The  paintings  discovered  in  the  catacombs  of  Egypt  show, 
that  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  that  country  used  nets  for  hunt- 
ing in  the  same  manner  which  has  now  been  shown  to  have 
been  the  practice  of  the  Persians,  Greeks  and  Romanst 

Hunting-nets  had  much  larger  meshes  than  fishing  or  fowl- 
ers'-nets,  because  in  general  a  fish  or  a  fowl  could  escape 
through  a  much  smaller  opening  than  a  quadruped.  In  hunt- 
ing, the  important  circumstance  was  to  make  the  nets  so  strong 


*  De  Venat.  vi.  7.  t  Oppian,  Cyneg.  iv.  124,  &c. 

X  Wilkinson's  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  iii.  p.  3-5. 


444 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OP 


that  the  beasts  could  not  break  through  them.  The  large 
size  of  the  meshes  is  denoted  by  the  phrases  "  retia  rara*"  and 
"  raras  plagasf  f  and  it  is  exhibited  in  a  bas-relief  in  the  collec- 
tion of  ancient  marbles  at  Ince-Blundell  in  Lancashire.  See 
Plate  X.  fig.  1.  This  sculpture  presents  the  following  circum- 
stances, which  are  worthy  of  notice  as  illustrative  of  the  pas- 
sages above  collected  from  ancient  authors.  Three  servants 
with  staves  carry  a  large  net  on  their  shoulders.  The  foremost 
of  them  holds  by  a  leash  a  dog,  which  is  eager  to  engage  in  the 
chaset.  Then  follows  another  scene  in  the  hunt.  A  net  with 
very  large  meshes  and  five  feet  high  is  set  up,  being  supported 
by  three  stakes.  Two  boars  and  two  deer  are  caught.  A 
watchman,  holding  a  staff,  stands  at  each  end  of  the  net.  Fig. 
2,  Plate  X.  is  taken  from  a  bas-relief  in  the  same  collection, 
representing  a  party  returning  from  the  chase,  with  the  quadru- 
peds which  they  have  caught.  Two  men  carry  the  net,  hold- 
ing in  their  hands  the  stakes  with  forks  at  the  top.  These 
bas-reliefs  have  been  taken  from  sarcophagi  erected  in  com- 
memoration of  hunters,  and  they  are  engraved  in  the  Ancient 
statues,  &c.  at  Ince-Blundell,  vol.  ii.  pi.  89  and  126.  An  ex- 
cellent representation  of  these  forked  staves  is  given  in  a  sepul- 
chral bas-relief  in  Bartoli,  Admiranda,  tab.  70,  which  Mr. 
Dansey  has  copied  at  p.  307  of  his  translation  of  Arrian  on 
Coursing,  and  which  represents  a  party  of  hunters  returning 
from  the  chase.  Another  example  of  the  varus,  or  forked  staff, 
is  seen  in  a  sepulchral  stone  lately  found  at  York  (England), 
and  engraved  in  Mr.  Wellbeloved's  Eburacum,  pi.  14.  fig.  2. 
The  man,  who  holds  the  varus  in  his  right  hand,  and  who  ap- 
pears to  be  a  huntsman  and  a  native  of  the  north  of  England, 
though  partly  clothed  after  the  Roman  fashion,  wears  an  inner 
and  outer  tunic,  and  over  them  a  fringed  sagum.  In  the  Se- 
polcri  de'  Nasoni,  published  by  Bartoli,  there  is  a  representation 
of  a  lion-hunt,  and  of  another  in  which  deer  are  caught  by 
means  of  nets  set  up  so  as  to  inclose  a  large  space.    In  Mont- 


*  Virg.  JEn.  iv.  131 ;  Hor.  Epod.  ii.  33. 

t  Seneca,  Hippol.  1.  c. 

t  See  Lucan,  as  quoted  in  the  last  page. 


NETS   BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


445 


faucon's  Supplement,  tome  iii.5  is  an  engraving  from  a  bas-re- 
lief, in  which  a  net  is  represented :  but  none  of  these  are  so  in- 
structive as  the  two  bas-reliefs  at  Ince-Blundell. 

Gratius  Faliscus  recommends  that  a  net  should  be  forty 
paces  long,  and  full  ten  knots  high  : 

Et  bis  vicenos  spatium  prsetendere  passus 

Rete  velim,  plenisque  decern  consurgere  nodis. — Cyneg.  31,  32. 

The  necessity  of  making  the  nets  so  high  that  the  animals 
could  not  leap  over  them,  is  alluded  to  in  the  expression  Yxpos 
Kpsiaaov  eKirndfiixaros,  i.  e.  11  a  height  too  great  for  the  animals  to  leap 
oufP 

Xenophon,  in  his  treatise  on  Hunting,  gives  various  direc- 
tions respecting  the  making  and  setting  of  nets  ;  and  Schneider 
has  added  to  that  treatise  a  dissertation  concerning  the  apKvg.  It 
is  evident  that  this  kind  of  net  was  made  with  a  bag  (^e^aXo?, 
vi.  7),  being  the  same  which  is  now  called  the  purse-net,  or  the 
tunnel-net,  and  that  the  aim  of  the  hunter  was  to  drive  the 
animal  into  the  bag  ;  that  the  watchman  (dpuvcopds)  waited  to  see 
it  caught  there ;  that  branches  of  trees  were  placed  in  the  bag 
to  keep  it  expanded,  to  render  it  invisible,  and  thus  to  decoy 
quadrupeds  into  it ;  that  a  rope  ran  round  the  mouth  of  the  bag 
(■nep'i6p0[xog,  vi.  9),  and  was  drawn  tight  by  the  impulse  of  the 
animal  rushing  in  so  as  to  prevent  its  escapet.  To  this  rope 
was  attached  another,  called  1^0^,  which  was  used  as  follows. 
In  fig.  1.  of  Plate  X.  we  observe,  that  the  upper  border  of  the 


*  iEschyli  Agamemnon,  1347. 

t  This  effect  of  the  irepiSpoixog  is  well  expressed  by  Seneca,  "  Arctatque  motu 
vincla :"  also  the  circumstance  of  the  branches  used  to  distend  the  bag  and  to 
make  it  invisible  ;  "  Fluentes  undique  et  caecos  sinus." 

Homer  (77.  v.  487)  seems  to  allude  to  the  same  contrivance,  and  to  apply  the 
term  d^Tks  to  the  rope  which  encircled  the  entrance  of  the  bag,  with  the  others 
attached  to  it. 

We  find  in  Brunck's  Analecta  (ii.  10.  No.  xx.)  the  phrase  dyKv\a  6'iKTva  applied 
to  hunting-nets.  It  was  probably  meant  to  designate  the  apKvg,  which  might  be 
called  dyi<v\a,  i.  e.  "  angular,"  because  they  were  made  like  bags  ending  in  a 
point.  The  term  vt<p't\n,  which  occurs  in  Aristophanes  (Aves,  195),  and  denoted 
some  contrivance  for  catching  birds,  is  said  by  the  Scholiast  on  the  passage  to 
have  meant  a  kind  of  hunting-net.  But  this  explanation  is  evidently  good  for 
nothing. 


446 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


net  consists  of  a  very  strong  rope.  Xenophon  calls  this  capfav 
(vi.  9).  In  the  purse-net  it  was  furnished  with  rings.  The 
dpuvcopos,  Or  watchman,  lay  in  ambush,  holding  one  end  of  the 
irndpoixos,  which  ran  through  the  rings,  and  was  fastened  at  the 
other  end  to  the  nepidpapos,  so  that  by  pulling  it  he  drew  the  mouth 
of  the  bag  still  more  firm  and  close.  He  then  went  to  the  bag 
and  despatched  the  quadruped  which  it  inclosed,  or  carried  it 
off  alive,  informing  his  companions  of  the  capture  by  shouting*. 

In  this  treatise  Xenophon  distinguishes  the  nets  used  in 
hunting  by  three  different  appellations  ;  apws,  hsstov,  and  turvov. 
Oppian  also  distinguishes  the  survov  used  in  hunting  from  the 
«iwt.  The  apKvs  or  cassis,  i.  e.  u  the  purse-  or  tunnel-net,"  was 
by  much  the  most  complicated  in  its  formation.  The  tvoSiov,  or 
"  road-net,"  was  comparatively  small :  it  was  placed  across  any 
road,  or  path,  to  prevent  the  animals  from  pursuing  that  path  : 
it  must  have  been  used  to  stop  the  narrow  openings  between 
bushes.  The  sutvov  was  a  large  net,  simply  intended  to  inclose 
the  ground  :  it  therefore  resembled  in  some  measure  the  sean 
used  in  fishing.  The  term,  thus  specially  applied,  may  be 
translated  a  hay,  or  a  hallierl.  These  three  kinds  of  nets 
appear  to  be  mentioned  together  by  Nemesianus  under  the 
names  of  retia  (i.  e.  6Urva)7  casses  (i.  e.  fyws),  and  plagce  (i.  e. 

h6dia.  )  I 

Necnon  et  casses  idem  venatibus  aptos, 
Atque  plagas,  longoque  meantia  retia  tractu 
Addiseunt  raris  semper  contexere  nodis, 
Et  servare  modum  maculis,  linoque  tenaci. 

Cyneg.  299-302. 

Xenophon,  in  his  treatise  on  Hunting,  further  informs  us,  that 
the  cord  used  for  making  the  apKvg,  or  purse-net,  consisted  of  three 
strands,  and  that  three  lines  twisted  together  commonly  made 
a  strand  (ii.  4) ;  but  that,  when  the  net  was  intended  to  catch 


*  Oppian,  Cyneg.  iv.  409.    Pliny  mentions  these  epidromi,  or  running  ropes  : 
H.  N.  xix.  1.  s.  2. 
t  Ibid.  iv.  381. 

t  See  Arrian  on  Coursing  :  the  Cynegeticus  of  the  younger  Xenophon,  trans- 
lated from  the  Greek,  &c.  &c.  by  a  graduate  of  Medicine  (William  C.  Dansey, 
M.  B.).   London,  1831,  pp.  68,  188. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


447 


the  wild  boar,  nine  lines  went  to  a  strand  instead  of  three 
(x.  2). 

It  remains  to  be  noticed,  that,  when  the  long  range  of  nets,  set 
up  in  the  manner  which  has  been  now  represented,  was  designed 
to  catch  the  stag  (cervus),  it  was  flanked  by  cords,  to  which,  as 
well  as  to  the  nets  themselves,  feathers  dyed  scarlet,  and  of 
other  bright  colors  intermixed  with  their  native  white,  and 
sometimes  probably  birds'  wings,  were  tied  so  as  to  flare  and 
flutter  in  the  wind*.  This  appendage  to  the  nets  was  called 
the  metus  or  formido  (Virg.  JEn.  xii.  750),  because  it  fright- 
ened these  timid  quadrupeds  so  as  to  urge  them  onwards  into 
the  toils.  Hence  Virgil,  speaking  of  the  method  of  taking 
stags  in  Scythia,  says, 

Nor  toils  their  flight  impede,  nor  hounds  o'ertake, 
Nor  plumes  of  purple  dye  their  fears  awake. 

Georg.  iii.  371,  372. — Sotheby's  Translation. 

The  following  passages  likewise  allude  to  the  use  of  this  con- 
trivance in  the  stag-hunt : 

Nec  formidatis  cervos  includite  pennis. — Ovid.  Met.  xv.  475. 

Vagos  dumeta  per  avia  cervos 
Circumdat  maculis  et  multa  indagine  pinnae. 

Auson.  Epist.  iv.  27. 

Nemesianus,  in  the  following  passage,  asserts  that  the  cord 
(tinea)  carrying  feathers  of  this  description  had  the  effect  of 
terrifying  not  the  stag  only,  but  the  bear,  the  boar,  the  fox  and 
the  wolf : 

Linea  quinetiam,  magnos  circumdare  saltus 
Quae  possit,  volucresque  metu  concludere  praedas, 
Digerat  innexas  non  una  ex  alite  pinnas. 
Namque  ursos,  magnosque  sues,  cervosque  fugaces 
Et  vulpes,  acresque  lupos,  ceu  fulgura  coeli 
Terrifieant,  Unique  vetant  transcendere  septum. 
Has  igitur  vario  semper  fucare  veneno 
Cura  tibi,  neveisque  alios  miscere  colores, 
Alternosque  metus  subtemine  tendere  longo. 

Cyneg.  303-311. 

The  same  fact  is  asserted  in  a  striking  passage,  which  has 


*  Dum  trepidant  alae. — Virg.  Mn.  iv.  121. 


448 


MANUFACTURE   AND  USE  OF 


been  above  quoted  from  Gratius  Faliscus.  To  the  same  effect 
are  the  following  passages : 

Nec  est  mirum,  cum  maximos  ferarum  greges  linea  pennis  distincta  conterreat, 
et  ad  insidias  agat,  ab  ipso  effectu  dicta  formido. — Seneca,  de  Ira,  ii.  11. 

Feras  lineis  et  pinna  conclusas  contine :  easdem  a  tergo  eques 
telis  incessat :  tentabunt  fugam  per  ipsa  quae  fugerant,  proculca- 
buntque  formidinem — Seneca,  de  dementia,  i.  12. 

Picta  rubenti  lineo  pinna 
Vatio  claudat  terrore  feras. 

Seneca  Frag.  Hippol.  i.  1. 

III. 

FUNDAj  JACULUM,  RETE  JACULUM,  RETIACULUM. 
AM<E>IBAHETPON,  AM$IBOAON. 

Fishing-nets*  were  of  six  different  kinds,  which  are  enume- 
rated by  Oppian  as  follows  : 

Toil/  ra  jxev  an(pi0\r]aTpa}  ra  61  ypT(pot  Kaktovrai, 
J^dyya^a  r',  ?)<5'  vno^al  TTepirjycss,  $61  aayrjvai, 
vA\\a  61  KiKkfiaKovai  Ka\vjji[xara. — Hal.  iii.  80-82. 

Of  these  by  far  the  most  common  were  the  dufipXriaTpov,  or 
casting-net,  and  the  oay^,  i.  e.  the  drag  or  sean.  Conse- 
quently these  two  are  the  only  kinds  mentioned  by  Virgil  and 
Ovid  in  the  following  passages  : 

Atque  alius  latum  funda  jam  verberat  amnem, 
Alta  petens  ;  pelagoque  alius  trahit  humida  lina. 

Virg.  Georg.  i.  141,  142. 
Hi  jaculo  pisces,  illi  capiuntur  ab  hamis  ; 
Hos  cava  contento  retia  fune  trahunt. 

Ovid,  Art.  Amat.  i.  763,  464. 

By  Virgil  the  casting-net  is  called  funda,  which  is  the  com- 
mon term  for  a  sling.  In  illustration  of  this  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that  the  casting-net  is  thrown  over  the  fisherman's  shoulder, 
and  then  whirled  in  the  air  much  like  a  sling.  By  this  action 
he  causes  it  to  fly  open  at  the  bottom  so  as  to  form  a  circle, 


*  'AXuvtikci  6'iKTva.    Diod.  Sic.  xvii.  43.  p.  193,  Wessel. 


I 

NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


449 


which  is  loaded  at  intervals  with  stones  or  pieces  of  lead,  and 
this  circle  "  strikes  the  broad  river* for  the  casting-net  is  used 
either  in  pools  of  moderate  depth,  or  in  rivers  which  have,  like 
pools,  a  broad  smooth  surface ;  whereas  the  sean  is  employed 
for  fishing  in  the  deep  (pelago)t. 

Isidore  of  Seville,  in  his  account  of  the  different  kinds  of  nets 
(Orig.  xix.  5),  thus  speaks  :  "  Funda  genus  est  piscatorii  retis, 
dicta  ab  eo,  quod  in  fundum  mittatur.  Eadem  etiam  a  jactan- 
do  jaculum  dicitur.    Plautus : 

Probus  quidem  antea  jaculator  erast" 

Besides  the  passage  of  Plautus,  here  quoted  by  Isidore,  there 
are  two  others,  in  which  the  casting-net  is  mentioned  under 
the  name  of  rete  jaculum^  viz.  Asinar.  1.  i.  87,  and  True.  1.  i. 
14.  Pareus,  as  we  find  from  his  Lexicon  Plautinum,  clearly 
understood  the  meaning  of  the  term,  and  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  casting-net  and  the  sean.  Of  the  Rete  jaculum  he 
says,  "  Sic  dicitur  ad  differentiam  verriculi,  quod  non  jacitur, 
sed  trahitur  et  verritur."  He  adds,  that  Herodotus  calls  it 
duftfXriGTpov,  and  the  Germans  Wurffgarn. 

The  word  occurs  twice  in  Herodotus,  and  both  places  throw 
light  upon  its  meaning.    In  Book  i.  c.  141.  he  says :  "  The 


*  The  Arabs  now  employ  the  casting-net  on  the  shores  of  the  Arabian  Gulf. 
"  Its  form  is  round,  and  loaded  at  the  lower  part  with  small  pieces  of  lead  ;  and, 
when  the  fisherman  approaches  a  shoal  of  fish,  his  art  consists  in  throwing  the 
net  so  that  it  may  expand  itself  in  a  circular  form  before  it  reaches  the  surface 
of  the  water."— Wellsted's  Travels  in  Arabia,  vol.  ii.  p.  148. 

t  For  a  technical  account  of  nets,  including  the  casting-net  as  now  made,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Charles  Bathurst's  Notes  on  Nets;  or  the 
Quincunx  practically  considered,  London,  1837,  12mo.  Duhamel  wrote  on  the 
same  subject  in  French. 

t  Jaculator  corresponds  to  the  Greek  dfxcpipoXevs. 

Ausonius,  in  the  following  lines,  which  refer  to  the  methods  of  fishing  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  Garonne,  appears  to  distinguish  between  the  jaculum  and  the  funda. 
Piscandi  traheris  studio  ?  nam  tota  supellex 
Dumnotoni  tales  solita  est  ostendere  gazas : 
Nodosas  vestes  animantum  Nerinorum, 
Et  jacula,  et  fundas,  et  nomina  villica  lini, 
Colaque,  et  indutos  terrenis  vermibus  hamos. 

Epist.  iv.  51-55. 

57 


450 


MANUFACTURE   AND  USE  OF 


Lydians  had  no  sooner  been  brought  into  subjection  by  the 
Persians  than  the  lonians  and  iEolians  sent  ambassadors  to 
Cyrus  at  Sardis,  entreating  him  to  receive  them  under  his  do- 
minion on  the  same  conditions  on  which  they  had  been  under 
Croesus.  To  this  proposal  he  replied  in  the  following  fable.  A 
piper,  having  seen  some  fishes  in  the  sea,  played  for  a  while 
on  his  pipe,  thinking  that  this  would  make  them  come  to 
him  on  the  land.  Perceiving  the  fallacy  of  this  expectation, 
he  took  a  casting-net,  and,  having  thrown  it  around  a  great 
number  of  the  fishes,  he  drew  them  out  of  the  water.  He 
then  said  to  the  fishes,  as  they  were  jumping  about,  As  you  did 
not  choose  to  dance  out  of  the  water,  when  I  played  to  you  on 
my  pipe,  you  may  put  a  stop  to  your  dancing  now?  The 
other  passage  (ii.  95)  has  been  illustrated  in  a  very  successful 
manner  by  William  Spence,  Esq.,  F.  R.  S.,  in  a  paper  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Entomological  Society  for  the  year  1834. 
In  connection  with  the  curious  fact,  that  the  common  house-fly 
will  not  in  general  pass  through  the  meshes  of  a  net,  Mr. 
Spence  produces  this  passage,  in  which  Herodotus  states,  that 
the  fishermen  who  lived  about  the  marshes  of  Egypt,  being 
each  in  possession  of  a  casting-net,  and  using  it  in  the  day- 
time to  catch  fishes,  employed  these  nets  in  the  night  to  keep 
off  the  gnats,  by  which  that  country  is  infested.  The  casting- 
net  was  fixed  so  as  to  encircle  the  bed,  on  which  the  fisherman 
slept ;  and,  as  this  kind  of  net  is  always  pear-shaped,  or  of  a 
conical  form,  it  is  evident  that  nothing  could  be  better  adapted 
to  the  purpose,  as  it  would  be  suspended  like  a  tent  over  the 
body  of  its  owner,  In  this  passage  Herodotus  twice  uses  the 
term  dixfiP^wrpov,  and  once  he  calls  the  same  thing  6farw,  because, 
as  we  have  seen,  this  was  a  common  term  applicable  to  nets  of 
every  description*. 

The  antiquity  of  the  casting-net  among  the  Greeks  appears 


*  None  of  the  commentators  appear  to  have  understood  these  passages.  In 
particular  we  find  that  Schweighauser  in  his  Lexicon  Herodoteum  explains 
'Atupil3\r)(TTpov  thus :  "  Verriculum,  Rete  quod  circumjicitur."  Rete,  however, 
corresponds  to  6'iktvov,  which  meant  a  net  of  any  kind  ;  and  Verriculum  is  the 
Latin  for  Hayfivrj,  which,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter,  was  a  sean,  or  drag-net. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


451 


from  a  passage  in  the  Shield  of  Hercules,  attributed  to  Hesiod 
(1.  213-215).  The  poet  says,  that  the  shield  represented  the  sea 
with  fishes  seen  in  the  water,  "  and  on  the  rocks  sat  a  fisherman 
watching,  and  he  held  in  his  hands  a  casting-net  (d^ipinvrpov) 
for  fishes,  and  seemed  to  be  throwing  it  from  him."  We  appre- 
hend that,  the  position  of  sitting  was  not  so  suitable  to  the  use 
of  the  casting-net  as  standing,  because  it  requires  the  free  use 
of  the  arms,  which  a  man  cannot  well  have  when  he  sits.  In 
other  respects  this  description  exactly  agrees  with  the  use  of  the 
casting-net :  for  it  is  thrown  by  a  single  person,  who  remains  on 
land  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  observes  the  fishes  in  it,  and 
throws  the  net  from  him  into  the  water  so  as  suddenly  to  in- 
close them. 

In  two  of  the  tragedies  of  iEschylus  we  find  the  term  d^x^rpov 
applied  figuratively  by  Clytemnestra  to  the  shawl,  in  which 
she  enveloped  her  husband  in  order  to  murder  him. 

"A.7reipov  d[xcj)i(S\r]arpov9  (Svrrsp  t^6vo)v, 

Trepiari'X}^03)  ttXovtov  elfxaros  kolkov. — AgameM.  1353,  1354. 
M.tjJLvrja-0  6\  hfji(j)i/3\r]aTpov      hKaiviaav. —  Choeph.  485. 

Lycophron  (1.  1101)  calls  this  garment  by  the  same  name, 
when  he  refers  to  the  same  event  in  the  fabulous  history  of 
Greece.  We  have  seen,  that  in  other  passages  the  shawl  so 
used  is  with  equal  aptitude  called  a  purse-net  (apKvs). 

One  of  the  comedies  of  Menander  was  entitled  'AXia?,  "  the 
Fisherman."  The  expression,  ^fy^A^rpu  rrepiPdWerai,  is  quoted 
from  it  by  Julius  Pollus  (x.  132)f. 

Athenseus  (lib.  x.  72.  p.  450  c.  Casaub.)  quotes  from  Antiph- 
anes  the  following  line,  which  describes  a  man  "  throwing  a 
casting-net  on  many  fishes" : 

'I%6vcriv  d[X(p'i/3\rjaTpov  avrjp  ttoWois  £TTi/3d\\(x)v. 

In  an  epigram  of  Leonidas  Tarentinus  we  find  the  casting- 
net  called  dpfiPoXov  instead  of  d^wx^Tpov^. 

The  dfxf^arpov  is  mentioned  together  with  two  other  kinds  of 
nets  by  Artemidorus,  and  which  will  be  quoted  presently. 


*  Menandri  et  Phil.    Reliquce,  a  Meineke,  p.  16. 

t  Bnmck,  Anal.  i.  223,  No.  xii.   Jacobs,  Anthol.  i.  2.  p.  74. 


452 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


The  following-  curious  passage  of  Meletius  de  Natura  Homi- 
7iis,  in  which  that  author,  probably  following-  Galen,  describes 
the  expansion  of  the  optic  nerves,  mentions  the  casting-net  as 
"  an  instrument  used  by  fishermen" : 

Aida^t^ovTai  cs  ra  vevpa  eig  roijg  6a\dfxovs9  wairep  i\v  Tig  \aj3cbv  nairvpov,  Tavrrjv  eig 
Xgrrra  Siarenwv  Kal  Siaa^i^uv  dvatrkZKriTai  -nd\iv:  Kal  noir}  yjcrtiva  XcydfxevOv  djU0;/?X^o-- 
TpoeiSrj,  ofioiov  dfupifiXfiprpcp.     opyavov  61  tovto  drjpcVTaig  i^docov  %pfiai[xov. — Salmasius, 

in  Tertull.  de  Pallio,  p.  213. 

The  %irdw  dixQifiXwrpoeiStis,  or  tunica  retina,  was  so  called  on 
account  of  its  resemblance  in  form  to  the  casting-net. 

As  we  learn  from  Herodotus  that  the  casting-net  was  univer- 
sally employed  by  the  fishermen  of  Egypt,  we  shall  not  be 
surprised  to  find  it  mentioned  in  the  Alexandrine,  or,  as  it  is 
commonly  called,  the  Septuagint  version  of  the  Psalms  and 
Prophets : — 

TLsaovvTai  sv  d^f/JX/jorpo)  avrov  hjxapTOj\olf 
i.  e.    "  Sinners  shall  fall  in  his  casting-net." — Psalm  cxli.  10. 
Cadent  in  retiaculo  ejus  peccatores. — Vulgate  Version. 
"  Let  the  wicked  fall  in  their  own  nets." — Common  English  Version. 

The  word  in  the  original  Hebrew  is  "iime,  which  Gesenius 
translates  "Rete,"  a  net.  This  word  must  have  been  more 
general  in  its  meaning  than  the  Greek  d^'tfx^oi/,  and  included 
the  purse-net,  or  apxvg.  The  Chaldee  and  Syriac  versions  use  in 
this  passage  a  word,  which  denotes  snares  in  general.  See 
Isaiah  li.  20,  where  the  same  word  is  used  in  the  Hebrew,  but 
applied  to  the  catching  of  a  quadruped,  and  where  consequently 
the  purse-net  must  have  been  intended. 

Kal  ol  fidXXovTCg  aayrjvag,  Kal  ol  afjupifio'XeTg  irev&fio-ovai. 
8.  e.    "  And  they  who  throw  seans,  and  they  who  fish  with  the  casting-net, 
shall  mourn." — Isa.  xix.  8. 

Et  expandentes  rete  super  faciem  aquarum  emarcescent. — Vulgate  Version. 
"  And  they  that  spread  nets  upon  the  waters  shall  languish." — Common  Eng- 
lish Version. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  this  prophecy  relates  to  Egypt.  The 
Hebrew  verb  ttJ^S,  here  translated  "  expandentes"  "  they  that 
spread"  is  exactly  applicable  to  the  remarkable  expansion  of 
the  casting-net  just  as  it  reaches  the  surface  of  the  water.  In 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


453 


the  Alexandrine  version  we  may  also  observe  the  clear  distinc- 
tion between  the  two  principal  kinds  of  nets,  the  sean  and  the 
casting-net,  and  that  the  man  who  fishes  with  the  latter  is  called 
dn<pi3o\evS,  as  in  Latin  he  was  designated  by  the  single  term 
jaculator. 

I&iXKvaev  avrov  iv  djKpifiXriaotp,  Kal  avvf\yzv  avrov  iv  rats  oayfivaig  avrov'  cvskev  tovtov 
evippavdriaerai  Kal  ^apfiaeraL  f]  xapdia  avrov.  "Yavekzv  rovrov  Ovaci  rrj  aayfivrj  avrov}  Kal 
Bv^idati  rw  dp.<pi/SXf]arpip  avrov}  on  iv  avroTg  eXtirave  [tepiSa  avrov  Kal  ra  Ppdofxara  avrov 
IxXsKra.  Ala  tovto  ajji^iPaXei  to  djjKpiPXrio'Tpov  avrov,  Kal  Stairavros  airoKrivuv  tdvrj  ov 
(pdcrerai. 

i.  e.  "  He  (the  Chaldean)  hath  drawn  him  in  a  casting-net  and  gathered  him 
in  his  seans :  therefore  his  heart  shall  rejoice  and  be  glad.  Therefore  he  shall 
sacrifice  to  his  sean  and  burn  incense  to  his  casting-net,  because  by  them  he  hath 
fattened  his  portion  and  his  chosen  dainties.  Therefore  he  shall  throw  his  cast- 
ing-net, and  not  spare  utterly  to  slay  nations." — Habakkuk,  i.  15-17. 

"  They  catch  them  in  their  net  and  gather  them  in  their  drag  ;  therefore  they 
rejoice  and  are  glad.  Therefore  they  sacrifice  unto  their  net  and  burn  incense 
unto  their  drag :  because  by  them  their  portion  is  fat  and  their  meat  plenteous. 
Shall  they  therefore  empty  their  net,  and  not  spare  continually  to  slay  the  nations  ?" 
— Common  English  Version. 

The  Latin  Vulgate  in  this  passage  uses  without  discrimina- 
tion the  terms  rete  and  sagena,  which  latter  is  the  Greek  word 
in  a  Latin  form. 

'ApftfMvrpop  occurs  twice  in  the  New  Testament.  Matthew 
iv.  18 :  "  Jesus,  walking  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  saw  two  brethren, 
Simon  and  Andrew,  casting  a  net  into  the  sea  ;  for  they  were 
fishers"  :  in  the  original,  PdWovrag  dixfiPUarpov  ds  rhv  ddXawav ;  in  the 
Vulgate  version,  "  mittentes  rete."  It  appears  no  sufficient 
objection  to  the  sense  which  has  been  assigned  to  dfif^Xwrpov, 
that  here  two  persons  are  mentioned  as  using  it  at  the  same 
time.  Being  partners  and  engaged  in  the  same  employment, 
one  perhaps  collecting  the  fishes  which  the  other  caught,  they 
might  be  described  together  as  "  throwing  the  casting-net," 
although  only  one  at  a  time  held  it  in  his  hands.  In  other 
respects  this  explanation  is  particularly  suitable  to  the  circum- 
stances. Jesus  was  walking  on  the  shore  and  accosted  the 
two  brothers.  This  suits  the  supposition  that  they  were  on  the 
shore  likewise,  and  not  fishing  out  of  a  boat,  as  they  did  with 
the  seaii  at  other  times.  In  verse  20  the  Evangelist  uses  the 
term  surva  (nets),  saying  "  they  left  their  nets,"  and  meaning 


454 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


both  their  casting-net  and  those  of  other  kinds.  In  verse  21 
he  mentions  that  James  and  John  were  in  their  boat3  mending 
their  nets  (surva). 

The  same  things  are  to  be  observed  in  Mark  i.  16,  which  is 
the  parallel  passage. 

IV. 

rpi$o£,  or  rpinon. 

Pursuing  the  order  adopted  by  Oppian  in  his  list  of  fishing 
nets  above  quoted,  we  come  to  the  TpT^s,  What  kind  of  net 
this  was  we  have  been  unable  to  discover.  It  must,  however, 
have  been  one  of  the  most  useful  and  important  kinds,  because 
Plutarch  mentions  yptyoi  Kai  aayfivai  as  the  common  implements  of 
the  fisherman*,  and  Artemidorus  speaks  of  this  together  with 
the  casting-net  and  the  sean  in  similar  termst. 

It  may  be  observed,  that  Tpmevg  is  used  for  a  fisherman^ 
apparently  equivalent  to  a\uvS§.  We  also  find  the  expression 
TpnrrjUi  rixvr],  meaning,  "  By  the  fisherman's  artp. 

•  V. 

rAITAMOK 

The  third  fishing-net  in  Oppian's  enumeration  is  Tdyyapov. 
We  find  it  once  mentioned  metaphorically,  viz.  by  iEschylus. 
who  calls  an  inextricable  calamity,  Yayyapov  dr^].  In  Schneider's 
edition  of  Oppian  we  find  this  note,  "  Rete  ostreis  capiendis 
esse  annotavit  Hesychius."  Passow  also  in  his  Lexicon  explains 
it  as  "  a  small  round  net  for  catching  oysters."  The  reference 
to  Hesychius  is  incorrect.  If  it  was  a  net  for  catching  oysters, 
which  appears  very  doubtful,  it  may  have  been  the  net  used  by 
the  Indians  in  the  pearl-fishery**. 


*  ILpi  hOv^'ias,  vol.  v.  p.  838,  ed  Steph.  t  L.  ii.  c.  14. 

t  Jacobs,  Anthol.  vol.  i.  p.  186,  Nos.  4  and  5. 

§  Theocrit.  i.  39  ;  iii.  26.  j|  Brunck,  Anal  ii.  9,  No.  14. 

IT  Agam.  352. 

**  Aeyet  Js/LcyaaBlvm  OvpiveaOat  rrjv  K6yyr\v  avrov  diKrvoi<ri.  Arrian,  Indica,  vol.  i 
p.  525,  ed.  Blancardi. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


455 


VL 

'  YITOXH. 

The  i*oXh}  which  is  the  fourth  in  Oppian's  enumeration,  was 
the  landing-net,  used  merely  to  take  fishes  out  of  the  water 
when  they  rose  to  the  surface,  or  in  similar  circumstances  to 
which  it  was  adapted.  It  was  made  with  a  hoop  (kvk\oS)  fastened 
to  a  pole,  and  was  perhaps  also  provided  with  the  means  of 
dosing  the  round  aperture  at  the  top*. 

Of  the  KdXvpua  we  find  nowhere  any  further  mention* 

VIL 

TRAGUM,  TRAGULA,  VERRICULUM. 
EArHNH. 

These  were  the  Greek  and  Latin  names  for  the  sean* 
Before  producing  the  passages  in  which  they  occur,  we  will 
present  to  the  reader  an  account  of  this  kind  of  net  as  now 
used  by  the  fishermen  on  the  coast  of  Cornwall  (England)  for 
catching  pilchards,  and  as  described  by  Dr.  Paris  in  his  elegant 
and  pleasant  Guide  to  Mounts  Bay  and  Land's  End\. 

a  At  the  proper  season  men  are  stationed  on  the  cliffs  to 
observe  by  the  color  of  the  water  where  the  shoals  of  pilchards 
are  to  be  found.  The  sean  is  carried  out  in  a  boat,  and  thrown 
into  the  sea  by  two  men  with  such  dexterity,  that  in  less  than 
four  minutes  the  fish  are  inclosed.  It  is  then  either  moored,  or5 
where  the  shore  is  sandy  and  shelving,  it  is  drawn  into  more 
shallow  water.  After  this  the  fish  are  bailed  into  boats  and 
carried  to  shore.  A  sean  is  frequently  three  hundred  fathoms 
long,  and  seventeen  deep.  The  bottom  of  the  net  is  kept  to 
the  ground  by  leaden  weights,  whilst  the  corks  keep  the  top  of 
it  floating  on  the  surface.  A  sean  has  been  known  to  inclose 
at  one  time  as  many  as  twelve  hundred  hogsheads,  amounting 
to  about  three  millions  of  fish" 


*  See  Oppian,  Hal.  iv.  251. 


f  Penzance,  1816,  p.  91 


456 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


Let  this  passage  be  compared  with  the  following,  which  gives 
an  account  of  the  use  of  the  same  kind  of  net  among  the 
Arabs.  It  will  then  appear  how  extensively  it  is  employed, 
since  we  find  it  used  in  exactly  the  same  way  both  by  our  own 
countrymen  and  by  tribes  which  we  consider  as  ranking  very 
low  in  the  scale  of  civilization  ;  and  on  making  this  comparison, 
the  inference  will  seem  not  unreasonable,  that  the  ancient 
Greeks  and  Romans,  who  in  several  of  their  colonies  in  the 
Euxine  Sea,  on  the  coasts  of  Ionia,  and  of  Spain,  and  in  other 
places,  carried  on  the  catching  and  curing  of  fish  with  the 
greatest  possible  activity  and  to  a  wonderful  extent,  used  nets  of 
as  great  a  compass  as  those  which  are  here  described. 

"  The  fishery  is  here  (i.  e.  at  Burka,  on  the  eastern  coast  of 
Arabia)  conducted  on  a  grand  scale,  by  means  of  nets  many 
hundred  fathoms  in  length,  which  are  carried  out  by  boats. 
The  upper  part  is  supported  by  small  blocks  of  wood,  formed 
from  the  light  and  buoyant  branches  of  the  date-palm,  while 
the  lower  part  is  loaded  with  lead.  To  either  extremity  of  this 
a  rope  is  attached,  by  which,  when  the  whole  of  the  net  is  laid 
out,  about  thirty  or  forty  men  drag  it  towards  the  shore.  The 
quantity  thus  secured  is  enormous ;  and  what  they  do  not  re- 
quire for  their  own  consumption  is  salted  and  carried  into  the 
interior.  When,  as  is  very  generally  the  case,  the  nets  are  the 
common  property  of  the  whole  village,  they  divide  the  prod- 
uce into  equal  shares*." 

That  this  method  of  fishing  was  practised  by  the  Egyptians 
from  a  remote  antiquity  appears  from  the  remaining  monu- 
ments. The  paintings  on  the  tombs  show  persons  engaged  in 
drawing  the  sean,  which  has  floats  along  its  upper  margin  and 
leads  along  the  lower  border! .  An  ancient  Egyptian  net,  ob- 
tained by  M.  Passalacqua,  is  preserved  in  the  Museum  at  Ber- 


*  Lieutenant  Wellsted's  Travels  in  Arabia,  vol.  i.  (Ornani),  pp.  186,  187. 

t  See  Wilkinson's  Manners  and  Customs  of  Ancient  Egypt,  vol.  ii.  p.  20,  21 ; 
see  also  vol.  iii.  p.  37.  One  of  these  paintings,  copied  from  Wilkinson,  is  intro- 
duced in  Plate  X.  fig.  3.  of  this  work.  The  fishermen  are  seen  on  the  shore 
drawing  the  net  to  land  full  of  fishes.  There  are  eight  floats  along  the  top,  and 
four  leads  at  the  bottom  on  each  side.  The  water  is  drawn  as  is  usual  in  Egyp- 
tian paintings. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


457 


lin.  Some  of  its  leads  and  floats  remain,  as  well  as  a  gourd, 
which  assisted  the  floats*. 

Besides  the  verses  of  Oppian,  which  are  above  quoted,  we 
find  another  passage  of  the  same  poem  {Hal,  iii.  82,  83), 
which  mentions  the  following  appendages  to  the  uaytwn,  viz.  the 
ne^di,  the  ocpaip&vts,  and  the  ckoXlos  ndvaypog.  As  the  Trfe,  or  feet  of  a 
sail  were  the  ropes  fastened  to  its  lower  corners,  we  may  con- 
clude that  the  wsjou  were  the  ropes  attached  to  the  corners  of  the 
sean,  and  used  in  a  similar  manner  to  fasten  it  to  the  shore  and 
to  draw  it  in  to  the  land,  as  is  described  by  Ovid  in  the  line 
already  quoted, — 

Hos  cava  contento  retia  fune  trahunt. 

The  afaipwves,  as  the  name  implies,  were  spherical,  and  must 
therefore  have  been  either  the  floats  of  wood  or  cork  at  the  top, 
or  the  weights,  consisting  either  of  round  stones  or  pieces  of 
lead,  at  the  bottom.  The  cucoXtds  irdmypos  must  have  been  a  kind 
of  bag  formed  in  the  sean  to  receive  the  fishes,  and  thus  cor- 
responding to  the  purse  or  conical  bag  in  the  Zpxvs.  The  term 
is  illustrated  by  the  application  of  the  equivalent  epithet  dyxv\a 
or  "  angular,"  to  hunting-nets  in  a  passage  from  Brunck's  Ana- 
lecta,  which  was  formerly  explained,  and  by  the  epithet  "  cava" 
in  the  line  just  quoted  from  Ovidt. 

In  the  following  passage  Ovid  mentions  the  use  both  of  the 
corks  and  of  the  leadst.  This  passage  also  shows  that  several 
nets  were  fastened  together  in  order  to  form  a  long  sean  : 

Aspicis,  ut  summa  cortex  levis  innatat  unda, 
Cum  grave  nexa  simul  retia  mergat  onus  ? 

Trist.  iii.  4.  1,  12. 

This  use  of  cork  and  lead  in  fishing  is  also  mentioned  by 
iElian,  Hist.  Anim.  xii.  43 ;  and  that  of  cork  by  Pausanias, 


*  Un  filet  de  peche  a  petites  mailles,  et  fait  avec  du  fll  de  lin.  Cet  objet,  qui  est 
garni  de  ses  plombs,  conserve  encore  les  morceaux  de  bois  qui  garnissaient  sa  par- 
tie  superieure,  ainsi  que  un  courge  qui  l'aidait  a  surnager. — Thebes.  Passalacqua, 
Catalogue  des  Antiquities  decouvertes  en  Egyptc,  No.  445.  p.  22. 

t  Observe  also  the  use  of  the  word  ^v^os  in  the  passage  of  Lucian's  Timon, 
quoted  below. 

t  MuXvpSaivai,  J.  Pollux,  X.  30.  §  132. 

58 


458  MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 

viii.  12.  §  1 ;  and  by  Pliny,  H.  N.  xvi.  8.  s.  13,  where,  in  reci- 
ting the  various  uses  of  cork,  he  says  it  was  employed  "  pis- 
cantium  tragulis."  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  describing  his  own 
villa,  says : — 

Hinc  jam  spectabis,  ut  promoveat  alnum  piscator  in  pelagus,  ut  stataria  retia 
suberinis  corticibus  extendat. — Epist.  ii.  2. 

"  Hence  you  will  see  how  the  fisherman  moves  forward  his  boat  into  the  deep 
water,  that  he  may  extend  his  stationary  nets  by  means  of  corks." 

Alciphron,  in  his  account  of  a  fishing  excursion  near  the 
Promontory  of  Phalerum,  says,  "  The  draught  of  fishes  was 
so  great  as  almost  to  submerge  the  corks*."  The  earnest  de- 
sire of  a  posterity,  founded  on  the  wish  for  posthumous  remem- 
brance, which  was  a  very  strong  and  prevailing  sentiment 
among  the  ancients,  is  illustrated  by  the  language  of  Electra 
in  the  Choephoroe  of  iEschylus,  where  she  entreats  her  father 
upon  this  consideration  to  attend  to  her  prayer,  and  likens  his 
memory  to  a  net,  which  his  children,  like  corks,  would  save 
from  disappearing : — "  Do  not  extinguish  the  race  of  the  Pe- 
lopidce.  For  thus  you  will  live  after  you  are  dead.  For  a 
marts  children  are  the  preservers  of  his  fame  when  dead, 
and,  like  corks  in  dragging  the  net,  they  save  the  flaxen 
string  from  the  abyss"  The  use  of  the  corks  is  mentioned 
in  several  of  the  epigrams  of  the  Greek  Anthology,  already  re- 
ferred to,  and  in  the  following  passage  of  Plutarch  : — 

"&2o7r£(9  rovs  tol  Siktvo.  Staarjfxaii/ovTas  bv.  rrj  da^dcray  QcWovg  dp6j[/sv  eirKpepofxsvovs. — De 
Genio  Socratis,  p.  1050,  ed  Steph. 

Passages  have  been  already  produced  from  Plutarch,  Artemi- 
dorus,  and  the  Alexandrine  version  of  Isaiah  and  Habakkuk, 
in  which  the  sean  is  mentioned  by  its  Greek  name  c-ayfiw,  in 
contradistinction  to  other  kinds  of  nets.  Also  the  passage 
above  cited  from  Virgil's  Georgics  ("  pelagoque  alius  trahit  hu- 
mid a  Una"),  indicates  the  use  of  the  sean  in  deep  water,  and 
the  practice  of  dragging  it  out  of  the  water  by  means  of  ropes, 
which  gave  origin  both  to  its  English  name,  the  Drag-net, 
and  to  its  Latin  appellations,  tragula,  used  by  Pliny  (I.  c), 


*  M.iKpov  Kai  tovs  (psXXovs  ederjae  Karaa-vpai  vfaXov  to  Siktvov  i^oyKOVjievov. — EjpisL  1. 1. 


NETS  BY  T»II£  ANCIENTS. 


and  tragum,  which  is  found  in  the  ancient  Glossaries  and  in 
Isidore  of  Seville*. 

We  find  mention  of  the  sean  more  especially  for  the  capture 
of  the  tunny  and  of  the  pelamys,  which  were  the  two  prin- 
cipal kinds  of  fish  caught  in  the  Mediterranean.  Lucian  speaks 
of  the  tunny-seant,  which  was  probably  the  largest  net  of  the 
kind,  and  he  relates  the  circumstance  of  a  tunny  escaping  from 
its  bag  or  bosom*.  The  sean  is  thrice  mentioned  in  the  Epistles 
of  Alciphron  (/.  c.  and  lib.  i.  epp.  17,  18.),  and  in  the  two  lat- 
ter passages,  as  used  for  catching  tunnies  and  pelamides.  We 
read  also  of  a  dolphin  (&Xfis)  approaching  the  sean§ ;  but  this 
might  be  by  accident.  It  was  not,  we  apprehend,  employed  to 
catch  dolphins. 

In  the  following  passage  of  the  Odyssey  (xxii.  384-387)  we 
have  a  description  of  the  use  of  a  sean  in  a  small  bay,  having 
a  sandy  shore  at  its  extremity,  and  consequently  most  suitable 
for  the  employment  of  this  kind  of  net : 

KoiXoy  1$  aiyta\dp  noXirjs  inroads  OaXdaarjs 
Aiktvo)  c^epvcrav  TroXvcxyrraj*  ol  Se  re  navres 
lK.Vjxad'  a\d$  iroOtovres  Ittl  ipafjiadotcri  Kt^vvrai. 

The  poet  here  compares  Penelope's  suitors,  who  lie  slain  upon 
the  ground,  to  fishes,  "  which  the  fishermen  by  means  of  a  net 


*  Tragum  genus  retis,  ab  eo  quod  trahatur  nuncupatum :  ipsum  est  et  verricu- 
lum.    Verrere  enim  trahere  est. — Orig.  xix.  5. 

The  Latin  name  verriculum  occurs  in  a  passage  of  Valerius  Maximus,  which 
is  also  remarkable  for  a  reference  to  the  Ionian  fisheries,  and  for  the  use  of  the 
word  jactus,  literally,  a  throw,  corresponding  to  that  which  the  Cornish  men  de- 
nominate, a  hawl  offish. 

A  piscatoribus  in  Milesia  regione  verriculum  trahentibus  quidam  jactum  emerat. 
— Mentor,  lib.  iv.  cap.  1. 

We  introduce  here  an  expression  of  Philo,  in  which  we  may  remark  that  06- 
Xoj  ixQvav  corresponds  exactly  to  jactus  in  Latin,  and  that  the  drawing  of  the  net 
into  a  circle  is  clearly  indicated :  @6\ov  i^Qvuv  navras  iv  kvkXo)  cayrjvevcos. —  Vita 
Mosis,  torn.  ii.  p.  95.  ed.  Mangey. 

t  Haywrj  dvwzvriKr}. — Epist.  Saturn,  torn.  iii.  p.  406.  ed.  Reitz. 

%  'O  dvvvos  Ik  hv<xov  rrjg  trayfjvris  Siefvyev. —  Timon,  §  22.  torn.  i.  p.  136. 

§  Oik  In  Tz\t]o-id^ci  rrj  aayfivrj. — iElian,  H.  A.  xi.  c.  12.  In  this  chapter  the 
same  net  is  twice  called  by  the  common  name,  SUtvov. 


460 


MANUFACTURE  ANl3  USE  OF 


full  of  holes  have  drawn  out  of  the  hoary  sea  to  a  hollow  bay, 
and  all  of  which,  deprived  of  the  waves  of  the  sea,  are  poured 
upon  the  sands."  Although  the  general  term  SUtvov  is  here 
used,  it  is  evident  that  the  net  intended  was  the  sean,  or  drag- 
net. 

In  one  of  the  passages  of  Alciphron  already  referred  to, 
mention  is  made  of  the  use  of  the  sean  in  a  similar  situation. 
Some  persons,  who  are  fishing  in  a  bay  for  tunnies  and  pela- 
mides,  inclose  nearly  the  whole  bay  with  their  sean,  expecting 
to  catch  a  very  large  quantity*.  This  circumstance  proves,  that 
the  sean  was  used  with  the  ancient  Greeks,  as  it  is  with  us,  to 
encompass  a  great  extent  of  water. 

We  have  seen  that  the  sean  supplied  figures  of  speech  no  less 
than  the  purse-net  fans),  and  the  casting-net  (dpfiPMarpov).  It  is 
applied  thus  in  the  case  of  persons  who  are  ensnared  by  the 


*  Tjf  o-ayrjvg  [xovovov%t  tov  koXttov  o\ov  ircpie\al3o^cv. — Epist.  i.  17. 

A  few  miscellaneous  passages,  which  refer  to  the  use  of  the  sean,  may  be  con- 
veniently introduced  here : 

Diogenes,  seeing  a  great  number  of  fishes  in  the  deep,  says  there  is  need  of  a 
sean  to  catch  them  ;  cayrjvrjs  dcrjcns. — Lucian,  Piscata,  §  51.  torn.  i.  p.  618,  ed. 
Reitz. 

The  sean  is  called,  from  its  material,  aayrivaiov  Yivov,  in  an  epigram  of  Archias. 
— Brunck,  Anal.  ii.  94.  No.  10. 

Plutarch,  describing  the  spider's  web,  says,  that  its  weaving  is  like  the  labor 
of  women  at  the  loom,  its  hunting  like  that  of  fishermen  with  the  sean. — De  So- 
lertia  Animalium,  torn.  x.  p.  29,  ed.  Reiske.  He  here  uses  the  term  cayvvevrfc 
for  a  fisher  with  the  sean,  This  verbal  noun  is  regularly  formed  from  cayvvtveiv, 
which  means  to  inclose  or  catch  with  the  sean  :  e.  g.  iv  SUrvois  aeaayrjvev^evoi. — 
Herodian,  iv.  9,  12. 

Lucian  uses  the  same  verb  in  reference  to  the  story  of  Vulcan  inclosing  Mars 
and  Venus  in  a  net ;  oay-qvevu  rols  Sca^ns. — Dialogi  Deor.  torn.  i.  p.  243.  Som- 
nium,  torn.  ii.  p.  707,  ed.  Reitz. 

Leonidas  of  Tarentum,  in  an  epigram  enumerating  the  ornaments  of  a  lady's 
toilet  (Brunck,  Anal.  i.  p.  221),  mentions  6  nXarvs  rpi^wv  caynvevrfip.  Jacobs 
(Annot.  in  Anthol.  i.  2.  p.  63)  supposes  this  to  mean  the  lady's  comb  ;  but,  judg- 
ing from  the  known  meaning  of  cayrjvr]  and  its  derivatives,  we  may  conclude  that 
it  was  the  KEKpvfaXos,  or  net,  which  inclosed  and  encircled  the  hair,  like  a  sean. 

The  following  verse  of  Manilius  (lib.  v.  ver.  678.)  is  remarkable  as  a  rare  in- 
stance of  the  adoption  of  the  Greek  word  sagena  by  a  Latin  poet : — 
Excipitur  vasta  circumvallata  sagena. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 


461 


wicked*  who  are  captivated  by  the  charms  of  lovet  or  of  elo- 
quence!:, or  who  are  held  in  bondage  by  superstition §.  But 
by  far  the  most  distinct,  expressive  and  important  of  its  meta- 
phorical applications,  was  to  the  mode  of  besieging  a  city  by 
encircling  it  with  one  uninterrupted  line  of  soldiers,  or  sweeping 
away  the  entire  population  of  a  certain  district  by  marching  in 
similar  order  across  it.  Of  this  the  first  example  occurs  in 
Herodotus  iii.  145  : — 

Tt?v  Se  Sajuoi/  aayrjvevaavTEg  ol  Tiepcrat  7rapeSocav  YioXvcajvTi,  eprjjxov  eovaav  dvSpcov. 
"  The  Persians,  having  dragged  Samos,  delivered  it,  being  now  destitute  of 
men,  to  Solyson." 

As  we  speak  of  dragging  a  pit,  so  the  Greeks  would  have 
spoken,  in  this  metaphorical  sense,  of  dragging  an  island. 
In  the  sixth  book  (ch.  xxxi.)  Herodotus  particularly  describes 
this  method  of  capturing  the  enemy.  According  to  this  account 
the  Persians  landed  on  the  northern  side  of  the  island.  They 
then  took  hold  of  one  another's  hands  so  as  to  form  a  long  line, 
and  thus  linked  together  they  walked  across  the  island  to  the 
south  side,  so  as  to  hunt  out  all  the  inhabitants.  The  historian 
here  particularly  mentions,  that  Chios,  Lesbos,  and  Tenedos 
were  reduced  to  captivity  in  this  manner.  It  is  recorded  by 
Platoll,  that  Datis,  in  order  to  alarm  the  Athenians,  against 
whom  he  was  advancing  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  army, 
spread  a  report  that  his  soldiers,  joining  hand  to  hand,  had 

*  T>ayr]v£vofjLou  irpog  avTwv. — Lucian,  Timon,  §  25.  torn.  i.  p.  138,  ed.  Reitz. 
t  Brimck,  Anal.  iii.  157.  No.  32.    Here  the  sean  is  called  by  the  general  term 
8'lktvov,  but  the  particular  kind  of  net  is  indicated  by  the  participle  cayrjvevdetg. 

TcovSi  ixaBrjrrjv, 
Ot  KoafjLOV  yXvKeprjcri  Qeov  driaavro  <ray^vais} 

i.  e.  "  A  disciple  of  those  who  bound  the  world  in  the  sweet  seans  of  God." — 
Greg.  Nazianz.  ad  Nemesium,  torn.  ii.  p.  141,  ed.  Paris,  1630.  (See  Chap.  Ill, 
p.  53.) 

§  Plutarch,  evidently  referring  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  says,  "  The 
Jews  on  the  Sabbath  sitting  down  on  coarse  blankets  (iv  dyvdixnroig,  literally,  in 
iltana,  or  blankets,  which  had  not  been  fulled,  or  cleansed  by  the  yvafcvs),  even 
when  the  enemy  were  setting  the  ladders  to  scale  the  walls,  did  not  rise  up,  but 
remained,  as  if  inclosed  in  one  sean,  namely,  superstition,  (uxrwep  iv  aayfjvrijxia}  rjj 
Seici5ainov'ia}  ovvfcfeixivoi)." — Opp.  torn.  vi.  De  Superstit.  p.  647,  ed.  Reiske. 

||  De  Legibus,  lib.  iii.  prope  finem. 


462 


MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF 


taken  all  the  Eretrians  captive  as  in  a  sean.  The  reader  is 
referred  to  the  Notes  of  Wesseling  and  Valckenaer  on  Herod, 
iii.  149  for  some  passages,  in  which  subsequent  Greek  authors 
have  quoted  Herodotus  and  Plato.  We  find  aaywevdnvai,  "  to  be 
dragged,"  used  in  the  same  manner  by  Heliodorus*. 

In  addition  to  the  passages  of  Isaiah  and  Habakkuk  which 
mention  the  drag  in  opposition  to  the  casting-net ;  we  find  three 
references  to  the  use  of  it  in  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel,  viz.  in 
Ezek.  xxvi.  5.  14 ;  xlvii.  10.  The  prophet,  foretelling  the 
destruction  of  Tyre,  says  it  would  become  a  place  to  dry  seans 
upon,  ipvyixog  eaynv&v ;  u  siccatio  sagenarum,"  Vulgate  Version; 
"  a  place  for  the  spreading  of  nets,"  Common  English  Version. 
The  Hebrew  term  for  a  drag  or  sean  is  here  Din. 

The  only  passage  of  the  New  Testament  which  makes 
express  mention  of  the  sean,  is  Matt.  xiii.  47,  48 :  a  The  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net  (o-ay^)  that  was  cast  into  the 
sea,  and  gathered  of  every  kind ;  which,  when  it  was  full,  they 
drew  to  shore,  and  sat  down,  and  gathered  the  good  into  vessels, 
but  cast  the  bad  away."  The  casting-net,  which  can  only 
inclose  part  of  a  very  small  shoal,  would  not  have  been  adapted 
to  the  object  of  this  parable.  But  we  perceive  the  allusion 
intended  by  it  to  the  great  quantity  and  variety  of  fishes  of 
every  kind  which  are  brought  to  the  shore  of  the  bay  UuymUv) 
by  the  use  of  the  drag.  The  Vulgate  here  retains  the  Greek 
word,  translating  sagena  as  in  the  above-cited  passages  of 
Habakkuk  and  Ezekiel.  In  John  xxi.  6.  8.  11,  the  use  of  the 
sean  is  evidently  intended  to  be  described,  although  it  is  called 
four  times  by  the  common  term  Mktvov,  which  denoted  either  a 
sean,  or  a  net  of  any  other  kind.  It  is  in  this  passage  trans- 
lated rete  in  the  Latin  Vulgate. 

The  Greek  having  been  adopted  under  the  form  sagena 
in  the  Latin  Vulgate,  this  was  changed  into  rezne  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxonst,  and  their  descendants,  have  still  further  abridged  it 
into  sean.  In  the  south  of  England  this  word  is  also  pro- 
nounced and  spelt  seine,  as  it  is  in  French.    We  find  in  Bede's 


*  Lib.  vii.  p.  304.  ed.  Commelini. 
t  See  Caedmon,  p.  75.  ed.  Junii. 


NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS.  463 

$ 

Ecclesiastical  History*  a  curious  passage  on  the  introduction  of 
this  kind  of  net  into  England.  He  says,  "  the  people  had  as 
yet  only  learnt  to  catch  eels  with  nets.  Wilfrid  caused  them  to 
collect  together  all  their  eel-nets,  and  to  use  them  as  a  sean  for 
catching  fishes  of  all  kinds." 

VIII. 

Reticulus  or  Reticulum. 

TYPrAGOS. 

In  the  ancient  Glossaries  we  find  YvpyaOog  translated  Reticulus 
and  Reticulum  :  it  meant,  therefore,  a  small  net.  It  was  not 
a  name  for  nets  in  general,  nor  did  it  denote  any  kind  of  hunt- 
ing-net or  fishing-net,  although  the  net  indicated  by  this  term 
might  be  used  occasionally  for  catching  animals  as  well  as  for 
other  purposes.  It  was  used,  for  example,  in  an  island  on  the 
coast  of  India  to  catch  tortoises,  being  set  at  the  mouths  of  the 
caverns,  which  were  the  resort  of  those  creaturesf.  But  the 
same  term  is  applied  to  the  nets  which  were  used  to  carry 
pebbles  and  stones  intended  to  be  thrown  from  military  enginest ; 
and  a  similar  contrivance  was  in  common  use  for  carrying 
loaves  of  bread §.  Hence  it  is  manifest  that  the  yvpyaOog  was 
often  much  like  the  nets  in  which  the  Jewish  boys  in  our  streets 
carry  lemons,  being  inclosed  at  the  mouth  by  a  running  string 
or  noose.  We  may  therefore  translate  yvpyahs,  "a  bag-net,"  as 
it  was  made  in  the  form  of  a  bag.  "  To  blow  into  a  bag-net," 
ci's  yvpyaSov  0vo$v,  became  a  proverb,  meaning  to  labor  in  vain. 
But  this  bag  was  often  of  much  smaller  dimensions,  and  of 
much  finer  materials,  than  in  the  instances  already  mentioned. 
From  a  passage  of  iEneas  Tacticus  (p.  54.  ed.  Orell.)  we  may 


*  Page  294,  ed.  Wilkins. 

+  'Ei>  61  tolvtt)  rr}  vr\otp  Kat  yvpyadoig  avrag  iSicog  ^ivsvovviv,  avTt  oiktvcjv  KaOlevreg  a\>- 
rovg  -rrtpX  to.  ard/xaTa  tcjv  -npopa-£Oiv. — Arrian,  Per.  Maris  Eryth.  p.  151.  ed.  Blan- 
cardi. 

t  Athenoeus,  lib.  v.  §  43.  p.  208,  ed.  Casaub. 

§  YvpyaQov'  ottvog  ttKcktov,  iv  w  0a\\ovat  tov  aprov  ol  dproKoirot. — Hesych. 
Reticulum  panis. — Hor.  Sat.  i.  I.  47. 


464     MANUFACTURE  AND  USE  OF  NETS  BY  THE  ANCIENTS. 

infer  that  it  was  sometimes  not  larger  than  a  purse  for  the 
pocket.  Hence  Aristotle*  properly  applies  the  term  yvpyaOos  to 
the  small  spherical  or  oval  bag  in  which  spiders  deposit  their 
eggs.  Among  the  luxurious  habits  of  the  Sicilian  preetor  Verres, 
it  is  recorded,  that  he  had  a  small  and  very  fine  linen  net,  filled 
with  rose-leaves,  a  which  ever  and  anon  he  gave  his  noset." 
This  net  was,  no  doubt,  called  yvpyaOos  in  Greek. 


*  Anim.  Hist.  v.  27.    Compare  Apollodorus,  Frag.  xi.  p.  454,  ed.  Heyne. 
t  Reticulum  ad  nares  sibi  admovebat,  tenuissimo  lino,  minutis  maculis,  plenum 
rosse. — Cic.  in  Verr.  ii.  5.  11 


THE  END. 


f 
r 


